At Ørsted, we’re actively engaging with the communities in which we operate. Our projects generate clean, reliable energy for millions of people in the world and create true value for local communities everywhere we work.
Since day one, we have worked to build a healthy local offshore wind industry ecosystem from scratch to support the green energy build out and contribute to Taiwan’s energy transition and Net-Zero goals. We’re creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs utilising our end-to-end business model of developing, constructing to operating offshore wind farms. We are committed to developing robust local supply chains and creating long-term benefits for local communities.
Since day one, we have worked to build a healthy local offshore wind industry ecosystem from scratch to support the green energy build out and contribute to Taiwan’s energy transition and Net-Zero goals. We’re creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs utilising our end-to-end business model of developing, constructing to operating offshore wind farms. We are committed to developing robust local supply chains and creating long-term benefits for local communities.
Growing our presence
In 2016, we established our APAC headquarters in Taipei in 2016. Since then, we’ve built a strong presence in the communities where we operate.
We were awarded the grid capacity in 2018 to build the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a offshore wind farms, which we worked with more than 200 local suppliers and sub-suppliers to build Taiwan’s first large-scale, far shore wind farms.
Moreover, we kick started the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) phase in 2022. This included launching the world’s first customised service operation vessel, establishing a local O&M team with Taiwanese technicians and inaugurating O&M hub at the Port of Taichung. This demonstrates our efforts to ensure optimal wind farm operations and create long-term, high-skilled jobs and business opportunities for local communities throughout the 25-30 years of wind farm lifecycle.
A green talent powerhouse in Taiwan
The talent pool is key to building a strong and sustainable renewable energy industry in Taiwan. Across our offices in Taipei, Taichung, and Changhua, we’ve recruited locally and building a multi-disciplinary team with a range of roles across operations and maintenance, engineering and construction, local stakeholder affairs and more.
Ørsted also offers many programmes to cultivate the offshore wind talent pool from scratch through trainings and green education:
Community Benefit Fund
Once commercial operation is commenced, for every KWh
electricity generation, the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a Offshore
WInd Farms contributes NTD 0.018, which will accumulate
millions of New Taiwanese Dollars every year to the
Community Benefit Fund.
The fund is designated for community livelihood rejuvenation, fishery resources restoration, and other effective coexistence initiatives.
Sponsoring Class B seafarer training
and certification program
Ørsted fully sponsored a Class B seafarer training and
certification program in 2023. This granted priority to
recruiting fishermen and young individuals from Changhua
and Taichung area.
A total of 18 trainees have completed a comprehensive 392-hour course, satisfying legal requirements for Class B seafarer in navigation science, assistant duties, and on-duty navigation. They have qualified for Class B seafarer certification, along with certificates for security responsibilities and security awareness.
Green Energy Scholarship Program
Ørsted launched the Green Energy Scholarship Program
(GESP) in 2019, as part of our local stakeholder engagement
program.
The mission of GESP is to offer an opportunity for Taiwanese youth to pursue undergraduate, master or doctoral degree in their chosen academia fields. The scholarship grants each individual applicant up to NTD 400,000 for tuition, accommodation costs and personal living expenses.
In addition, the scholarship prioritized for applicants from Changhua County as Ørsted’s offshore wind farms are based in the administrative area.
From 2019 to 2022, a total number of 25 students were awarded a scholarship. We look forward to continuously supporting young generations in Taiwan to pursue their future in green energy.
Incubate novel solutions: Sustainability
Innovation Accelerator (SIA) Program
In January 2024, Ørsted launched the Sustainable
Innovation Accelerator (SIA) in collaboration with the Metal
Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC).
The initiative calls for students and professionals to submit innovative proposals as solutions to conventional challenges and evolve the offshore wind industry for more sustainable practices.
The SIA program provides a total prize of NTD 450,000 to shortlisted teams, and up to NTD 500,000 to the winning team at final competition.14
Apprenticeship Programme partnering with Da-Yeh University
Ørsted partnered with Da-Yeh University for the
Apprenticeship Program. It aims to support young talent to
enter the offshore wind industry.
The program offers classroom-based courses on engineering, electricity, mechanic, and hydraulic fundamentals, as well as on-the-job experience shadowing Ørsted experts working at the Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms.
Green Energy Syllabus
In 2022, Ørsted partnered with National Changhua
University of Education (NCUE) for the Green Energy
Syllabus initiative.
This initiative seed trained teachers from more than 30 elementary schools to share relevant green energy knowledge with more than 750 elementary school children. The seed teachers have become the pioneers of green education in Changhua.
Industry-Academia Collaboration in energy
storage and wind power measurement
As part of the collaboration program between Ørsted and
NCUE, a megawatt-scale energy storage system was set up
in 2020 at NCUE’s campus to optimise on-campus energy
efficiency and smart grid research.
In addition, Ørsted inaugurated the Dual-Doppler Radar System offering wind and weather observational data to the six academic research partners. This included National Taiwan University, National Central University, Chinese Culture University, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Technical University of Denmark, and SmartWind Technologies.
Building a local Operations
and Maintenance (O&M) team in Taiwan
With our industry leading build-to-operate business model,
Ørsted began O&M deployment in 2018 with a strategic
plan to establish full-scale operations, which was an
unprecedented industrial practice in Taiwan. This includes
a Taiwanese operations team, the world’s first Taiwanflagged customized service operation vessel (SOV) and
APAC’s largest new-build offshore wind operation facility in
the Port of Taichung.
The ‘Ørsted Taiwan Offshore Wind Farms O&M Center’ is the first operations facility with certified green design6 and the largest in terms of size and offshore service capacity in the Asia-Pacific region.
We have also recruited and developed an almost entirely local operations team comprised of more than 40 operational personnel and wind farm technicians with responsibilities including wind turbine generators, high voltage and balance of plant (BoP) works. O&M jobs are long-lasting employment expected to serve more than two decades wind farm lifespan.
The deployment of the bespoke SOV, TSS Pioneer, is at the core of our capabilities to perform reliable and efficient O&M services to the highest levels. 'TSS Pioneer' is the first Taiwan-flagged SOV customized to meet the specific requirements of the Greater Changhua offshore wind farms and Taiwan Strait conditions. It also represents new opportunities for local vessel suppliers to gain experience in marine engineering, operations, and cultivate local talents for the O&M phase of offshore wind farms.
With the completion of Greater Changhua 1 and 2a project, the local O&M team is dedicated to ensuring the optimal performance of the largest-ever offshore wind farm in Taiwan, providing a stable supply of clean energy for decades to come.
Graduate Programme
A two-year programme opens to people who have graduated from their master’s degree within the last year. This programme includes 2-3 rotation opportunities so the person can experience working in different departments, markets, and job functions.
Internship Programme
We introduced the Internship Programme in 2017 to support senior university students to join Ørsted and participate in Taiwan’s green energy buildout. Since its launch, Ørsted has hosted 30+ interns and 10 of them were offered full time work at Ørsted after finishing the programme.
Our local engagement
We’re constantly seeking to create opportunities and enable local communities to benefit from the development of the renewable energy industry.
Amongst other local initiatives, Ørsted Taiwan has also partnered with local schools to conduct beach cleaning in Changhua annually; hosted Ørsted’s sustainable living Festival in Lukang; sponsored the Ju Percussion Group summer music event; donated a Global Positioning System and Automatic Identification System to Taichung Fisherman Communications Station; and participated in major local festivals.
Active engagement and efficient mutual communication
Community engagement is a critical part of project
development. At Ørsted, we set out to develop an industry
framework to deliver lasting benefits for society.
Fishing coexistence during
offshore wind farm construction and operation
The local fishing industry and communities are some of our
most important stakeholders. Ørsted employs a Marine Affairs
Officer and Local Stakeholder Manager responsible for directly
engaging with the communities to ensure open communication
and access.
Coexist with fishing activities by
reinforcing safety practices
When offshore wind construction and fishing activities
occur in shared marine space, timely communications and
standardized practices are crucial for marine operation
safety.
The Greater Changhua 1 and 2a project actively avoids
and mitigates these risks by reinforcing ‘near real-time’
communication with the fishers.
The Taichung Fishery Radio Station plays a crucial role as
an interface between fishing vessels and other working
vessels in Changhua area. In 2021, Ørsted made a donation
to the Station including Global Positioning System (GPS),
Automatic Identification System (AIS), and Electronic Chart
System (ECS) to enable timely marine coordination between
fishermen and our crew working in the ocean.
In addition, we have hired local fishing vessels to guard
offshore wind farms during construction to prevent collision
risks. This initiative provided extra job opportunities and
enhanced construction safety simultaneously.
Overall, only five cases of fisheries conflict incidents
occurred during Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore
wind farms construction phase from 2022-24. Risk has
been further mitigated through the donation of marine
coordination equipment to access the Taichung Fishery
Radio Station service.
Marine mammal observer training program
Ørsted has adopted the standards of the Marine Mammal
Observer Association (MMOA) and the United Kingdom’s
Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
We prioritize recruiting local fishermen to the program and
support them to be qualified for domestic certifications to
serve as marine mammal observers (MMO) at our offshore
wind farms as well as other wind farms in Taiwan. See the
case study video here.13
