On December 6, 2021, the Industrial Development Bureau published the “Directions of Industrial Relevance Program for Offshore Wind Zonal Development,” listing 25 key development items and 56 items for bonus points, and adjusted local content requirements, removing four items from the draft published on July 29 the same year. Major changes are as followed:
Key development items
There are 25 key development items across five categories. Considering the lack of offshore substations and manufacturing capacity for variable pitch control system, the finalized program removed transformers for offshore substations, switch plant, distribution board, and power conversion system, and make variable pitch control system a bonus item.
For maritime engineering service and engineering design service, the draft published on July 29 mandated 100% of capacity to pass industry relevance review. The finalized version relaxed that requirement. Taiwanese vessels shall take priority to serve as vessels for environment investigation, geotechnic drilling, underwater foundation installing, cable laying, operation, and maintenance (CTV, SOV, MPV) of maritime engineering service. Finalized requirements for core development service capacity are as followed:
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Taiwanese vessels shall take priority.
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Projects may use vessels of joint ventures between local and foreign companies if no access to Taiwanese vessels. Local companies shall hold at least half of the shares of the joint ventures, and the joint ventures shall hold at least half of shares of the vessels.
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Projects may use foreign vessels, if no access to the above vessels, which they must prove by a certification from the T-Wind Marine Association. They are also required to follow legal procedures, in accordance with the “Operation Directions for Foreign Flag Ships Apply to Stay in Any Harbor or Port Other Than Those Announced as International Ports by the R.O.C. Government”
For engineering service, local firms shall have at least 50% of involvement in each item in three possible ways:
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At least two engineering technology consulting firms, one local, and the other foreign company.
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Developers having their own engineering designers must cooperate with at least one local company.
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Engineering technology consulting firms shall either be turn-key contractors or subcontractors.
Bonus items
The amendment changed the bonus items to five categories containing a total of 56 bonus items, with vessel manufacturing independent from the rest. The attribution of bonus points saw small changes.
Electricity facility accounts for 25 points (19 points in the draft). Points for three items (transformer, switch plant, and distribution board) in the offshore substation category are raised from one point to three points, with no quantity requirement; points are allocated according to capacity proposed. Power conversion system accounts for two points, points for cables are trimmed down from six to five points.
In the underwater foundation category, site board steel frame was removed. Points are calculated differently for monopile and jacket foundations, with the former accounting for four points and the latter five points.
Turbine components account for 27 points (30 points in the draft). Fastener itself becomes an independent item and will be counted as bonus points if outnumber 60% of intended capacity. The finalized version canceled quantity requirement for variable pitch control system, reduced points for power generators to five points, and combined several items, allowing developers to choose one to be reviewed. For example, developers can earn one bonus point if either the release agent or adhesive for blades of 100% of a project’s capacity pass the industry relevance review.
Maximum 5 bonus points for vessel usage
The finalize program made no changes to vessel manufacturing and maritime engineering service/engineering design service. It is worth noting that underwater foundation installation vessel, wind turbine installation vessel, and cable laying vessels must prioritize Taiwanese vessels, which will contribute to the project the new three points for vessel manufacturing and two points for maritime engineering service/engineering design service. Projects using vessels retrofitted in Taiwan will only score 1.5 points in vessel manufacturing.
Developers will not choose cable and offshore substation as their bonus items, InfoLink projected. First of all, it requires dedicated manufacturing plants to produce cables, which is too much of costs. Therefore, few businesses are willing to be involved. Secondly, Taiwan is not capable of manufacturing offshore substation, of which the underwater foundation is similar to, but way heavier than, that of wind turbines, and thus difficult to make. Taiwan has some wind turbine component production capacity, but whether it can catch up with market demand is still open to question.
The finalized IPR policy will be applicable for wind farms to be connected to the grid between 2026 and 2027, with NT$261.4 billion of output value addition and 29,450 job opportunities expected. For wind farms being connected to the grid after 2027, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will make adjustments with rolling wave planning, in accordance with future policy development.