UK and Taiwan port operators to cooperate on floating offshore wind
Associated British Ports (ABP) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of cooperation on floating offshore wind-related port facilities and the exploration of future business collaboration opportunities with Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC).
ABP is the UK’s leading and largest port operator with a network of 21 ports around the UK, handling a quarter of all UK port volumes, worth £157bn ($193bn) in 2022.
It provides critical support services to various national sectors, including energy, cruise tourism, container shipping, agricultural and forestry products, automotive, and steel. Many of ABP’s ports are near major British offshore wind farms, and ABP offers services to meet wind farm needs.
For example, the Port of Hull hosts the Siemens Gamesa wind turbine blade factory, the Port of Grimsby hosts Europe’s largest offshore wind turbine operations and maintenance centre, and the Ports of Lowestoft and Barrow hosts significant O&M hubs. ABP also has a plan for a transformational project to develop a major floating offshore wind hub port at Port Talbot.
To further foster exchange and cooperation, TIPC Chairman, Lee took a delegation to the UK in July to visit ABP CEO, Henrik L. Pedersen and share experiences as well as to invite ABP to visit Taiwan.
“Floating offshore wind presents huge opportunities to the UK, from becoming a global leader in green energy generation to creating significant jobs, prosperity and energy security. We look forward to working with TIPC to exchange ideas and accelerate the advancement of this technology,” Henrik L. Pedersen, CEO of ABP, said.
“The third phase of offshore wind power development is about to unfold in Taiwan. With larger-scale wind turbines, localization policies, etc., there will be more demand for land and space in the ports of Taiwan, and the demonstration plan of floating wind will also bring up more requirements and challenges. Through signing the MOU with ABP and sharing information between the two parties, I believe that TIPC will be fully prepared on port planning and construction in coordination with offshore wind power policies,” TIPC VP of Business Shu-hui Cheng added.
TIPC Chairman, Hsien-Yi Lee Lee stressed that ports have a crucial role to play in the current and future development of offshore wind power and that they were interested in learning how to best develop the port infrastructures necessary to support the future development and installation of floating offshore wind in Taiwan.
