Visiting the wind turbine provider ENERCON.

This semester Dr. Jules Chuang, our managing director, was invited to offer classes in department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tunghai University. To bring students a step closer to the renewables industry, we arranged a field trip to Enercon Training Center Taiwan. The group was specially hosted by the Managing Director of Enercon Taiwan, Mr. Bart Linssen, who has a long and profound friendship with Dr. Jules Chuang.

Figure1.Picture of Jules and Bart.

Visiting Enercon Training Center Taiwan.

ENERCON Taiwan Ltd. is the largest wind turbine manufacturer in Germany, as well as one of the major wind turbine providers in Taiwan. During the sharing session, Mr. Bart Linssen, personally, introduced the history of green energy and development, wind power technology, and the wind power situation in Taiwan.

A question was raised during the session: “what happened to the turbine when typhoon strikes?” The wind turbines are equipped with a storm control feature which can slow down the rotation of the turbine at high wind speed. The system first controls the angel of the blades and the power, then toward to windward and blades change to full feather pitch angle to reducing the risk of structural damage during a typhoon.

Besides, one of Enercon’s technician showed the major components of a wind turbine and explained how a wind turbine can generate electricity. Students also had the chance to climb up the 2-storey bare metal ladder, experiencing the life of a wind turbine technician.

Figure2. Students climbing up the 2-storey bare metal ladder.

On this field trip, we learned how other countries are promoting onshore wind power which could be applied in Taiwan. We also realized that there are still have many rooms for onshore wind power to be developed in the future. Being as the leading green market devoter and the onshore wind farm developer in Taiwan, Mt. Stonegate strives to unlock the potential of our next generation.

Figure3. Group photo in Enercon Training Center, Taiwan.