BMT addresses Taiwanese offshore wind farm risks

BMT Asia Pacific and BMT Nigel Gee, subsidiaries of BMT Group, international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, announced completion of a major project supporting the development of Taiwan's offshore wind ambitions. Commissioned by Taiwanese Government agencies, and working alongside Wind Prospect Ltd, BMT has assisted in developing practical guidelines to facilitate offshore wind development in an efficient, cost-effective and risk aware manner.

Currently, the Taiwan government is aggressively promoting wind energy, with a particular focus on offshore development – an essential requirement given Taiwan's mountainous terrain and limited available terrestrial sites. New offshore demonstration projects are to be supported by Government, and larger sites developed by the private sector in a bid to boost total wind output to 4.2GW by 2030. As part of this push BMT is providing the strategic planning and technology development guidance required to exploit the significant offshore renewable resource. A key deliverable of this project has been a set of guidelines which replicate best practice within Europe, whilst recognising the particular challenges of offshore wind in Taiwan. As per BMT, the guidelines review the current state of the offshore wind market and key hazards typically associated with project development. A systematic risk management framework is used to assist the identification, evaluation and treatment of risks. From evaluating the impacts of wind yield, shipping activity, to operations and maintenance safety, the guidelines provide a template for local Taiwanese stakeholders to build on as they take their projects forward.