The two companies, under the name CWind Taiwan, will provide offshore wind farm training and best practice, as well as support services to Taiwanese offshore wind farm developers and site owners, they stated.
CWind installs and maintains submarine cables and is due to install a fibre optic cable at the 400MW Rampion site off England’s south coast
Based in Taiwan’s New Taipei City, IOVTEC scans and maps seabeds and surveys submarine cables, according to its website.
It was also set to install a lidar buoy to collect wind resource data off the Taiwanese coast this month, as part of a pre-existing agreement with ocean surveyors Fugro, which sold its trenching and cable-laying business to CWind owner, the Global Marine Group in November 2017.
Ian Douglas, the chief executive of the Global Marine Group, said the Taiwanese government’s ambition to increase the percentage of renewable energy contribution from 6% to 20% by 2025, encouraged the formation of the CWind-IOVTEC JV.
"We believe the Taiwan offshore renewable market is on the cusp of exponential growth," he said.
"CWind’s impressive track record around the world, combined with IOVTEC’s local insights, perfectly positions CWind Taiwan to play what we believe can be a significant role in shaping the future of Taiwan’s energy market."
The JV plans to expand training modules CWind established at two national training centres in the UK to "support the growth of a core base of Taiwanese trained technicians, enabling local content in Taiwan".
CWind’s national wind farm training centres provide course including tower rescue, sea survival and response team training.
Vincent Tsai, chief executive officer of IOVTEC, added: "The formation of CWind Taiwan demonstrates our commitment to contributing to Taiwan’s long-term energy goals.
"Our new joint venture will help customers meet requirements to reduce the country’s carbon footprint."
Set for launch
The CWind-IOVTEC joint venture is the latest in a series of promising developments for Taiwan’s nascent offshore wind sector.
In recent years, manufacturers have opened offices in Taiwan, proposed large offshore projects, and the Taiwanese government has set ambitious targets. For more on the recent growth of activity in Taiwan, click here.
