ROV accomplishes seabed scanning for Taiwan Strait wind farm
DWTEK, the Taiwanese underwater tech developer, achieved a significant milestone last month by supporting local offshore wind farm surveying with its working-class ROV Monew on the west side of the Taiwan Strait, accomplishing the mission in collaboration with supplier R2Sonic. This achievement demonstrates that DWTEK has the capacity to provide a turnkey solution for supporting the offshore maritime industry, cementing its important role in Taiwan’s offshore wind farm supply chain.
While Taiwan imported 98% of its energy from abroad for many years, that has now changed. In 2019, the Bureau of Energy released the Policy of Offshore Wind in Taiwan, which identified opportunities for offshore wind energy in the Taiwan Strait to help solve the energy shortage problem on the island. Construction of Taiwan’s wind farm began in 2019 and is expected to be completed in around 2025. So far, more than 200 wind turbines have been installed and this continues to grow, thanks to international developers and investors. However, questions arise, such as: who will maintain the local offshore wind farms and handle other tasks, and will local companies be capable of managing the extensive maintenance operations? The problem is localization: the lack of a sufficient supply chain has always been an issue, and importing services to support the supply chain is not a long-term solution, as it leads to financial losses.
Advanced hydrographic technology
The debut of DWTEK’s working class ROV Monew made it the first Taiwan-built ROV to support its home offshore wind service. The scanning and inspection were carried out using specialized equipment installed on Monew: a R2Sonic Sonar 2024 multibeam echosounder, a navigation sonar, a USBL underwater positioning system and DWTEK’s self-developed high-resolution cameras, along with 11 DWT 135D4 thrusters. The mission lasted around two weeks, during which DWTEK deployed a six-person team, and was executed non-stop at sea with its offshore service vessel Sunny Bright, without the need to return to port for refuelling or resupply. This achievement marks a significant breakthrough for Taiwan’s offshore sector, resulting in substantial time and cost savings.
The construction of offshore wind farms relies on favourable weather conditions. With construction limited to two to three months during the summer, the project becomes a race against time. Localization is therefore essential, and a team like DWTEK – which can be fully mobilized – proves to be the best choice for Taiwan’s offshore wind farm developers.
