A new manga series by a Taiwanese marine engineering professor gives a colourful overview of the development of floating wind farms.
“Harvest Wind – Offshore Engineering” follows May, a 26-year-old project manager at developer Faithland Energy who is given the “challenging assignment” of building a floating wind farm.
Over the course of seven instalments the series follows May through the contracting, construction and commissioning phases of an offshore wind project.
With twenty 15-MW turbines to install at tower heights of 300m, Faithland’s project is roughly six times the size of the world’s largest operating project – the 50MW Kincardine scheme off Aberdeen.
© Supplied by KT Ma/YinFu/HarvestThe manga offers a detailed yet accessible look at various technical aspects of the offshore wind development process, including subcontracting, the assembly of floating foundations, GWO and HUET offshore safety training, anchor handling and turbine commissioning.
Each discipline is brought to life by a colourful cast of characters who may look familiar to anyone working in the energy sector – whether that’s marine engineer Kenny or anchor handling vessel captain Jens.
© Supplied by KT Ma/YinFu/HarvestThe series is the brainchild of Dr Kai-Tung (KT) Ma – a National Taiwan University professor specialising in anchoring and moorings for offshore turbines – and artist Yin Fu.
What’s more, it’s clear much of the technology and expertise on show owes something to oil and gas.
In a career spanning nearly 30 years, KT has worked on a variety of offshore research work – including a 16-year stint at Chevron in Houston, where he worked on many aspects of floating systems from mooring and station keeping to drilling riser technology, hull structural design and facilities engineering.
© Supplied by KT Ma/YinFu/HarvestFirst published in December 2022, translations into English and other languages arrived in 2023 and the final two instalments of the seven-episode manga series were released last week.
You can read the series via creator-led publishing platform Manga Plus.
Taiwan is seeking to make the most of abundant wind resources, with a three-phase plan for offshore wind development targeting 5.7GW of cumulative installed capacity by 2025. The third phase will sees the island aim to build 1GW of capacity per year between 2026-35.
That is buoyed by the efforts of major floating wind developers, including the likes of Hexicon – which has signed a joint venture to build a 1.3GW project – and Bluefloat, whose 1GW “Winds of September” project is eyed for off the coast of Hsinchu.
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