Thrilling energy transition project in Taiwan: The Yeong Guan Group (YGG) based in Taiwan has chosen ABP Induction as its partner to develop a large-scale sustainable project on the west coast of Taiwan. There, Hai Long 2, a 300 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm, is to be built in the harbor area of the megacity of Taichung, whose components will be manufactured entirely by local stakeholders in Taiwan.
Hai Long 2 is planned to be a regional industrial center of excellence for offshore wind energy technology around Taichung. The idea is to concentrate the competence for development and planning as well as the production of corresponding components locally. This is intended to accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy supply through wind turbine technology for Taiwan and the entire Asia-Pacific region.
Investors have succeeded in securing a 5,000-square-meter site in Zone 1 of the port adjacent to CIP's Kai Changfang & Xidao Offshore Wind Project specifically for this purpose, which is earmarked for assembly activities for some of the projects. Specific projects are required to have on-site assembly activities. The hub assembly activities include some of the offshore wind components manufactured locally in Taiwan, including hub plates from YGG. In 2019, YGG concluded an agreement for the local production of hub and base frame castings for this purpose. For this purpose, YGG will build a new global casting production factory for offshore wind turbines in Taichung. This is where YGG will collaborate with ABP Induction.
The agreement was concluded in December 2020: ABP will supply two 30-ton furnaces with a 16 MW power supply for the planned induction melting plant, plus a 10-ton furnace with a 6.1 MW power supply. Assembly is scheduled for September 2021, with commissioning directly at the beginning of 2022. ABP Induction is contributing its global expertise here - with several divisions from ABP from Europe and the Asian region working together to bring this complex project to fruition. This gives ABP Induction the opportunity to once again demonstrate its expertise in the field of sustainable future technologies for power supply and to also gain a foothold in the Taiwanese market for the first time.
An important criterion for the decision to award the contract to ABP Induction was the company's extensive experience and numerous successful projects in the market segment of large-scale furnaces with high output. However, YGG is also interested in the digital solutions that ABP Induction has developed, in particular the digital Expert on Demand (dEoD). With this tool, ABP experts are always on hand when support is needed to ensure maximum availability of a system. It allows ABP's support team to see the system through the customer's eyes with augmented reality. dEoD is available extremely quickly, as long waiting times for a service appointment or technician availability are no longer an issue.
Added to this is the digital portal myABP, with which ABP Induction is pioneering the digitization of foundry systems. With the integration of the new system components into myABP, ABP Induction can demonstrate how the large-scale plant of YGG can be operated as sustainably and resource-efficiently as possible. myABP serves as a digital information and maintenance assistant for the metalworking industry. The platform functions independently of location and time: It is designed as an open, manufacturer-neutral system for all processes and machines in a foundry operation. This is how predictive and preventive services can be offered. It also contains all documents from product descriptions and drawings to maintenance manuals and service reports. If required, the M2M connection can be supplemented by the aforementioned augmented reality support via dEoD and virtual training via the ABP Virtual Academy. Employees on site can be trained virtually in important work steps and safety-relevant activities in the Academy. The completed training courses can be documented in myABP so that the system operator always has an overview of the expertise network within the company. In this specific case in Taiwan, this can be an important contribution to the planned local competence development in wind farm technology.
On the whole, this is an initiative that is extremely focused on sustainable future development, in which ABP Induction is making an important contribution to further promoting renewable energies, thus effectively counteracting climate change and also developing regional competence and knowledge for this important industry of the future.
About ABP Induction
ABP is a leading manufacturer of induction furnaces and systems for inductive melting and holding for the metal and metalworking industries. ABP is an expert in melting, pouring, holding and heating iron, steel and non-ferrous metals with design, production, assembly and services for foundries, forges and steelworks. The ABP Induction Group with over 400 employees has companies in the USA, Mexico, Sweden, Germany, South Africa, Russia, India, Thailand and China. It is represented by service and sales partners in most of the world's industrialized countries.
