Wind Energy

NCKU Signs Agreement to Develop Offshore Wind Farm

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has signed a cooperation agreement with a non-profit organization and a company to build an offshore wind power which can provide electricity for 130,000 households every year.

The university’s Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy and Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory co-signed the agreement with Metal Industries Research and Development Center and Taiwan generations Corp. on September 23rd.

"The Ministry of Economic Affairs has initiated measures for offshore wind energy systems this month and is expecting to develop four exemplary units by 2015," said Wen-Teng Wu, director of NCKU Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy.

According to Hsin-Yu Lin, general manager of Taiwan Generations Corp., since Taiwan started to develop onshore wind power a decade ago, the company has developed about 20 onshore wind farms with an installed capacity of nearly 400 megawatts and an average of only 20 mw per wind farm.

Lin explained, "While the onshore wind farms and their scales are limited to provide adequate electricity for Taiwan, a small island with high population density, Taiwan Strait can produce powerful and stable wind power for large-scale offshore wind farms due to its unique terrain."

For instance, the Fuhai wind farm off Changpin has been estimated that it could generate electricity for 3,200 to 3,600 hours per year. Based on the calculation of a 200 mw system, it can generate 640 million kilowatt of electricity to power 130,000 households for one year.