Taipei: A potential lull in Taiwan's offshore wind development from 2031 to 2033 could disrupt investment and erode the marine engineering capacity built up over the past decade, an industry executive said Thursday. Robert Tseng, chairman of CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering Co. (CDWE), urged the government to move quickly on its next round of offshore wind projects to ensure continuity for developers, suppliers, and marine engineering companies.
According to Focus Taiwan, Tseng emphasized that there may be a "gap in 2031, 2032 and 2033, and we should not allow it to last that long," at an energy transition forum in Taipei. He advised that the government should launch the next round quickly so that developers, suppliers, and engineering companies can keep moving forward.
Tseng highlighted Taiwan's marine engineering industry's investment in purchasing, building, and modifying offshore wind construction and support vessels, moving beyond merely serving as agents for foreign technology. There are currently about 120 Taiwan-flagged construction and support vessels operating in the country, with this number continuing to grow.
However, Tseng noted that Taiwan still lacks enough specialized vessels to assemble a complete offshore wind installation fleet. Developing 1.5-2 gigawatts of capacity annually would require two to three such fleets.
CDWE, established in 2019 as a joint venture between Taiwan's CSBC Corp. and Belgium-based DEME Offshore, aims to accelerate the transfer of marine engineering capabilities to Taiwan. The company commissioned Green Jade, a US$318 million (NT$10 billion) vessel equipped with a 4,000-ton crane for installing foundations, turbines, and offshore substations.
Tseng stated that CDWE had participated in eight Taiwanese wind projects and recently completed foundation and turbine installation work for the Hai Long 2 and 3 wind farms. After completing part of that work ahead of schedule, the company utilized a two-month opening to install 22 jacket foundations for Taiwan Power Co.'s second offshore wind project, underscoring the importance of maintaining domestic engineering capacity.
In 2025, CDWE was ranked fourth globally -- excluding China -- for fixed-bottom offshore wind installation workload and first in jacket foundation installation, according to Tseng. He also noted that the capabilities developed through offshore wind projects could support subsea cables and pipelines, offshore substations, carbon capture and storage, and other marine infrastructure.
"Autonomous and comprehensive marine engineering capabilities are most important to support Taiwan's continued development," Tseng stated. He added that these capabilities could support development in areas ranging from the low-carbon and net-zero transitions to AI and marine industries.
Taiwan's offshore wind plan for 2026-2039 identifies an additional 15-18 GW of developable capacity, which would bring cumulative capacity to 24.7-27.9 GW by 2039. Continued project development would encourage further investment and allow Taiwan's marine engineering sector to support broader energy security and net-zero goals, Tseng concluded.