Name: Taiwan: a global leader in offshore wind
Uploaded: 2023-11-15T04:12:54.320Z
Duration: 280.87
Description: In this video Laura Evertsen, Director of Renewables Consulting Group's Taiwan office, shares insights into Taiwan's leading offshore wind industry. Laura discusses the unique challenges faced by international developers, emphasizing the crucial role of government in establishing a strong regulatory framework.

Laura Evertsen 3.mp4

Laura Evertsen.vtt

Subtitles

{{00:00:07}}
Hi, I'm Laura Evertsen and I work
for the Renewables Consulting Group,

{{00:00:10}}
which is a recent acquisition by ERM,
Environmental Resources Management.

{{00:00:15}}
I'm currently based in Taiwan.

{{00:00:17}}
I'm the director for RCG's Taiwan office.

{{00:00:20}}
And prior to that, I spent about
15 years working in the UK in

{{00:00:24}}
the offshore wind industry.

{{00:00:26}}
I was head of renewables for one
of the largest utilities in the UK.

{{00:00:30}}
And I joined the company at the
time that it was just starting

{{00:00:33}}
out in offshore wind development.

{{00:00:35}}
I then had the opportunity to get
involved in construction of wind

{{00:00:37}}
farms and then latterly involved
in the operational projects.

{{00:00:41}}
So I have got experience
through the full project life

{{00:00:44}}
cycle of wind farms, in the UK.

{{00:00:47}}
And I'm just really fortunate to be
able to be in Taiwan at the time that

{{00:00:50}}
they're just really getting into the
development of their offshore wind

{{00:00:53}}
pipeline and to have the similar
experience on the other side of the globe.

{{00:01:05}}
Taiwan is the leader for offshore wind
in APAC currently, and there's a lot of

{{00:01:09}}
activity and a lot of interest by both
local and international developers.

{{00:01:14}}
But it's not been without its problems.

{{00:01:16}}
The first projects, Round 1 and Round
2, We're near shore projects in fairly

{{00:01:22}}
shallow water, and the regulations were
fairly simple in comparison to the more

{{00:01:27}}
onerous conditions that we're seeing
being imposed on the round three projects.

{{00:01:31}}
Though Taiwan has very stringent
localization targets whereby a number

{{00:01:36}}
of the components and also services
have to be sourced internally and Taiwan

{{00:01:42}}
government is really trying to build, a
domestic supply chain and hopes eventually

{{00:01:47}}
to export that to other regions as well.

{{00:01:49}}
But for developers, certainly
international developers that are coming

{{00:01:52}}
to Taiwan from Europe for example,
they're not used to these requirements.

{{00:01:57}}
And so they're having to work with more
local companies who also currently don't

{{00:02:01}}
have the supply to meet the demand.

{{00:02:04}}
And so there's a long way to go in terms
of building that offshore wind pipeline.

{{00:02:08}}
As projects continue to get bigger and
further offshore and the conditions

{{00:02:12}}
get more and more challenging.

{{00:02:20}}
And there's many lessons
that can be applied from the

{{00:02:22}}
Taiwan offshore wind market.

{{00:02:24}}
Also Japan and others are a bit
more advanced than new emerging

{{00:02:28}}
markets like Australia, for example.

{{00:02:30}}
The main thing is that government need
to lead a strong regulatory framework

{{00:02:35}}
and they need to do that early on.

{{00:02:37}}
They need to work together with developers
to try to shorten the consenting timeline.

{{00:02:42}}
Try to get these projects into
construction as quickly as possible

{{00:02:45}}
and accelerate the build so that
we can meet these 2030 targets.

{{00:02:50}}
They also need to have an upfront,
early grid reinforcement plan.

{{00:02:55}}
We continually hear that grid
capacity is not sufficient, or

{{00:02:59}}
it's not in the areas where there's
the best natural wind resource.

{{00:03:02}}
Similarly with the ports, governments
need to designate base ports, invest in

{{00:03:07}}
them, make sure that they have sufficient
lay down areas that they have sufficient

{{00:03:11}}
access requirements to meet the needs
of these growing offshore wind projects.

{{00:03:17}}
They also need to make sure that, there's
perhaps a more centralized approach to

{{00:03:23}}
some of the surveys that are required.

{{00:03:25}}
At the moment in both Taiwan and
Japan there's a number of overlapping

{{00:03:28}}
projects, and that means that you've
got developers doing duplicate EIA.

{{00:03:32}}
So spending money on the same
surveys on the same piece of seabed.

{{00:03:37}}
And that's also extending
into geo surveys.

{{00:03:39}}
So geotechnical surveys, geophysical
surveys, and these surveys are not

{{00:03:43}}
cheap and they're not without risk.

{{00:03:45}}
So if the government can play its part
in reducing duplication, saving costs,

{{00:03:50}}
but also maybe being more mindful of
the fact that upfront expenditure is a

{{00:03:55}}
risk that some developers don't like.

{{00:03:57}}
In the UK for example, a
seabed lease is granted before

{{00:04:02}}
an EIA has to be undertaken.

{{00:04:04}}
Unfortunately, it's kind of turned on
its head in Taiwan that the EIA has to

{{00:04:08}}
be done before you have any certainty
that you will win a particular site.

{{00:04:12}}
And with overlapping sites, there
is a big risk unfortunately that

{{00:04:16}}
another developer will  take that.

{{00:04:20}}
It's good in some ways to have
competition, but actually not when it

{{00:04:24}}
can be a disadvantage to developers that
really want to invest in a market, but

{{00:04:29}}
get put off by the kind of the upfront
investment requirements and risk.

Hi, I'm Laura Evertsen and I work
for the Renewables Consulting Group,

which is a recent acquisition by ERM,
Environmental Resources Management.

I'm the director for RCG's Taiwan office.

And prior to that, I spent about
15 years working in the UK in

I was head of renewables for one
of the largest utilities in the UK.

And I joined the company at the
time that it was just starting

I then had the opportunity to get
involved in construction of wind

farms and then latterly involved
in the operational projects.

So I have got experience
through the full project life

And I'm just really fortunate to be
able to be in Taiwan at the time that

they're just really getting into the
development of their offshore wind

pipeline and to have the similar
experience on the other side of the globe.

Taiwan is the leader for offshore wind
in APAC currently, and there's a lot of

activity and a lot of interest by both
local and international developers.

The first projects, Round 1 and Round
2, We're near shore projects in fairly

shallow water, and the regulations were
fairly simple in comparison to the more

onerous conditions that we're seeing
being imposed on the round three projects.

Though Taiwan has very stringent
localization targets whereby a number

of the components and also services
have to be sourced internally and Taiwan

government is really trying to build, a
domestic supply chain and hopes eventually

But for developers, certainly
international developers that are coming

to Taiwan from Europe for example,
they're not used to these requirements.

And so they're having to work with more
local companies who also currently don't

And so there's a long way to go in terms
of building that offshore wind pipeline.

As projects continue to get bigger and
further offshore and the conditions

And there's many lessons
that can be applied from the

Also Japan and others are a bit
more advanced than new emerging

The main thing is that government need
to lead a strong regulatory framework

They need to work together with developers
to try to shorten the consenting timeline.

Try to get these projects into
construction as quickly as possible

and accelerate the build so that
we can meet these 2030 targets.

They also need to have an upfront,
early grid reinforcement plan.

We continually hear that grid
capacity is not sufficient, or

it's not in the areas where there's
the best natural wind resource.

Similarly with the ports, governments
need to designate base ports, invest in

them, make sure that they have sufficient
lay down areas that they have sufficient

access requirements to meet the needs
of these growing offshore wind projects.

They also need to make sure that, there's
perhaps a more centralized approach to

At the moment in both Taiwan and
Japan there's a number of overlapping

projects, and that means that you've
got developers doing duplicate EIA.

So spending money on the same
surveys on the same piece of seabed.

And that's also extending
into geo surveys.

So geotechnical surveys, geophysical
surveys, and these surveys are not

So if the government can play its part
in reducing duplication, saving costs,

but also maybe being more mindful of
the fact that upfront expenditure is a

In the UK for example, a
seabed lease is granted before

Unfortunately, it's kind of turned on
its head in Taiwan that the EIA has to

be done before you have any certainty
that you will win a particular site.

And with overlapping sites, there
is a big risk unfortunately that

It's good in some ways to have
competition, but actually not when it

can be a disadvantage to developers that
really want to invest in a market, but

get put off by the kind of the upfront
investment requirements and risk.

Expert Insight

In this video Laura Evertsen, Director of Renewables Consulting Group's Taiwan office, shares insights into Taiwan's leading offshore wind industry. Laura discusses the unique challenges faced by international developers, emphasizing the crucial role of government in establishing a strong regulatory framework. 