Here at PES we are delighted to bring you our review of the first ever Wind Energy Asia. Wind energy is growing rapidly in Asia, our clients are already excited about it. This event has been met with enthusiasm and it’s set to be a great annual show, a chance to meet up and network with prospective collaborators in a new market venture.

The hottest show in Asia’s booming wind energy market

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‘This is exactly the type of show I want to come to! It’s not the largest, but no school kids stuffing bags with brochures, and the quality of the meetings? Wow! Excellent!’ said Giordano Toninelli, Sales Manager at FACCIN SpA sitting in his booth on the trade show floor.

And this pretty much summed up the feeling of the vast majority of attendees, exhibitors, visitors, both to the exhibition and the forum of the Asia-Pacific Wind Energy Expo 2019. Held for the first time in the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in Kaohsiung, South Taiwan in March this year, the event provided a great platform for B2B discussions, recruitment of employees, industry information-gathering, search for local partners, policy discussions with high level government officials and last but not least to have a drink with your peers in a relaxed networking event with live music under the palm trees by the harbor. To cement strong relationships for the future.

89 exhibitors sharing 158 booths in the exhibition hall were visited by over 1,500 industry professionals. 80% from Taiwan, with the other 20% came from 23 countries and or regions. Japan and Singapore having the largest delegations, but Pakistan, South Africa and USA among others, were also present. Pavilions from 6 nations, Denmark and Singapore were the biggest, jockeyed for attention with large booths from Tier 1 vendors with their local partners and JVs, with a third of the companies being Taiwanese exhibitors.

Simultaneously on the 1st day, 2 floors above,

a forum of 26 sessions and over 250 attendees discussed policy, project finance, certification, operation and maintenance, and all other important issues throughout the industry. Plenum sessions on policy and overall market followed the opening speech by Deputy Economics Minister Vincent Tseng, responsible for Energy, in the morning.

In the afternoon the audience picked from 2 tracks on Technology or Finance/Certification to cover a wide range of topics such as project finance, localization, operations & maintenance, supply chain, training, HR, particular weather conditions right across the breadth of the industry. Technicians and project managers took turns with CEOs and Vice Presidents to share their knowledge and approaches from the podium. The conference rooms were buzzing.

For the organizer’s small project team at Intercon Convention Management, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s live communication leader Interplan International Corp. based in Taipei, it had been a tough 9 months. Yes, it had come together in just 9 months. From concept development and the first client meetings in June 2018 to the event in mid-March it was 9 months. They were exhausted, but very happy. Happy with the great feedback (and praise!) that everybody gave them, and knowing that they had together created the largest, most international wind exhibition by far in Taiwan, and already in its 1st version one of the most important in Asia. Double to triple the size and number of exhibitors it attracted when compared to the competitive event in Taipei.

Extremely rewarding.

The skeptics had been many. Why Kaohsiung? Why not do it in Taipei where the government is? Because many of the key Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers are in Kaohsiung. And the venue is on the harbor, facing Taiwan’s most important port. And although the aspiration had been to have activities in the harbor, due to time constraints these didn’t come about in 2019. For 2020 the first vessel to be stationed right next to the venue has been confirmed already: CWind will have a CTV docked less than 100m from the hall for registered guests to visit. More vessels are very likely. Visits to China Shipbuilding’s dry dock are in the works. Xinda Port, a 20-minute drive away and key for the buildup of foundations and for future operations and maintenance activities, are to have tours that are all but settled.

What else can be expected in the 2020 version of the event, now re-branded Wind Energy Asia? Anything below a doubling of the event would be disappointing. Many key players who stayed away wondering: if we really need to go to yet another wind energy event, have realized, after visiting in March, that the answer is yes, they do. It’s not another event, it is really THE event in Taiwan.

Taiwan has aspirations of becoming an Asian powerhouse in the wind industry, being able to securely develop and refine the technology of foreign industry leaders to be able to supply other Asian markets which are developing as well but are a couple of years behind Taiwan. Securely means that the

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foreign companies offering their technology can do it safely, without getting ripped off by their partner, as many Asian horror stories tell, relying on a strong legal environment, on tech-oriented partners interested in moving forward and upgrading into a developing market, interested in joint-venturing for the long-term.

The wind industry is propelled by a very strong investment by the Taiwan central government, which has committed US$ 33 billion towards the goal of obtaining 20% of its power from renewables by 2025, with the lion share to come from wind. But due to the short deadlines the industry is scrambling. Combined with the localization requirements developers need to commit to.

Many components are either not available locally or too expensive because local suppliers have not had the time to go down the learning curve. The development of a strong local supply chain is crucial and there is no time to be lost! And Wind Energy Asia is designed to contribute towards this end.

Finding local partners, who are capable of using foreign technology, to produce components at an internationally competitive price. Create the talent to feed the industry, develop it and improve it. Already in a host of other industries, such as

semiconductors, cell phones, bicycles, gaming to name a few, Taiwan has proven to have the innovativeness, tenacity and investment power required. Allowing this island smaller than Switzerland, located between China and the vast Pacific, home to over 23 million people with a strong work ethic, battered by typhoons and earthquakes to become a dominant power. Welcome to resilient Taiwan!

Today the talk is primarily offshore, as the government contracts currently are in that direction. The argument, as in many other places, is that Taiwan is too crowded for onshore given its size and population density. But once harbors, industrial zones and freeways are taken into consideration this might change. And with the impressive development of floating wind, one wonders where the future development lies, which

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direction it might take. For this reason, despite offshore getting a lot of airtime, Wind Energy Asia welcomes all sectors of the wind industry, so that discussions can be intense and all bases covered.

The event has already become the focus of the industry in a market that cannot turn back whatever the democratic election results of next January. Elections that are an example for Asia. Power might stay with the same party, or change seamlessly to the next as it has always done since democracy was institutionalized, but Taiwan’s energy independence is a must, to reduce its dependence on imports, to reduce pollution and improve air quality, to meet its commitment to international accords in the world’s race to reduce CO2 emissions.

Taiwan is becoming the front-runner in many fields. Be it in gender rights with recently-enacted LBGTQ legislation allowing same sex marriage, be it in a crime rate, which is so low that it is the envy of the majority of the developed world, be it with a business-minded environment that will not change whoever is in power, be it with a low cost of living, or just the friendliness of its people.

Taiwan has a lot to offer. And definitely in wind energy. Come to be a part of this exciting new industry. Find your joint-venture partner, join all major developers who for good reason have established their Asia headquarters here and help move your industry forward in this exciting, hot market!

www.windenergy-asia.com

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