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Background

Previously, Taiwan imported 98% of its energy. Since 2019, with the release of their Offshore Wind Policy, Taiwan has invested in the construction of world class wind farms that will see the end of their local energy shortage by 2025.  Already more than 200 wind turbines have been installed on the Taiwan Strait that require ongoing local maintenance.

The Project

DWTEK Co. Ltd., the Taiwanese underwater tech developer, produced the first ‘made-in-Taiwan’ working-class ROV that was despatched to the west side of the Taiwan Strait to complete a maintenance inspection survey.

“ROV was the only option for this task. The flexibility of the Sonic 2024, makes the installation and integration on the ROV a much easier task and with the 2 sonars installed in front, leading the near-field focusing scanning to produce a great result”

Timing is a critical factor in this business that is heavily dependent on the weather. The custom Monew ROV was fitted with 2 Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounders, navigation sonar, USBL underwater positioning and DWTEK high resolution cameras and 11 K25 thrusters.  The mission was completed in a record time of 1 week, by a team of 6, despite turbulent 2 knot currents that put the ROV and sonars to the test.

The Result

The mission was successfully executed across the target area at a depth of 300m. The ROV performed perfectly together with the Sonic 2024 in UHD and UHR mode, producing accurate and clear imagery required for the underwater inspection.

A representative from DWTEK concluded:

“The Sonic 2024 sonar contributed to high accuracy with the density of measured points, making the preliminary inspection result easier, and being able to reapply to other extended research”.