TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The Netherlands will fund a program to train Taiwanese in the field of offshore wind energy, a rapidly developing industry on the island that is part of the governments effort to promote green energy.

More than 30 Dutch enterprises have been drawn to Taiwan towards the offshore wind farms to be developed in the coming decades, but they all face [a] shortage of talents, said Guy Wittich, representative of the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office in Taiwan, on Monday (Mar. 2) at the programs kick-off ceremony in Taipei.

Although some Dutch companies decided to cancel their trips to Taiwan this time over concerns of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), our determination to help Taiwan cultivate talents is not deterred, with the support from companies such as Van Oord, Boskalis, Damen, and IHC IQIP, he added.

A total of 20 seed talents in the initial stage of the program will be trained in maritime engineering, data analysis, and the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms. The program is funded by the Dutch government and designed by Dutch universities and institutes, such as the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, Delft University of Technology, and water research institute Deltares, in partnership with their Taiwanese counterparts.

Since signing a memorandum of understanding on energy innovation in September 2015, Taiwan and the Netherlands have exchanged several high-level official visits and held a number of bilateral meetings, remarked Weng Su-chen (), secretary-general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Bureau of Energy. Talent incubation is the most crucial area of cooperation between the two countries as Taiwan strives to develop its offshore energy, she said.

This program of Train the Trainers will include courses such as seabed analysis, turbine design, installation of offshore wind turbines, and operation and maintenance, said Chiang Mao-Hsiung (), director of National Taiwan Universitys Energy Research Center. We welcome all trainers from academia and the businesses sector to establish a platform with us, said Chiang, who will lead the program.

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Netherlands to fund program to train offshore... - Taiwan News