The Economic and Environmental Impacts of Floating Offshore Wind Power Generation in a Leading Emerging Market: The Case of Taiwan

Taiwan has set an ambitious target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, relying heavily on offshore wind capacity of 13.1 GW by 2030 and 40–55 GW by 2050. Floating offshore wind (FOW) is expected to play a central role in meeting these targets, particularly in deep-water areas where fixed-bottom technology is technically constrained. This study combined S-curve modeling for capacity projections, learning curves for cost estimation, and input–output analysis to quantify economic and environmental impacts under three deployment scenarios. Our findings indicate that FOW development provides substantial economic benefits, particularly under the high-growth scenario. During the construction phase through 2040, total output is projected to exceed NTD 1.97 trillion, generating more than NTD 1 trillion in gross value added (GVA) and over 470,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. By 2050, operations and maintenance (O&M) output is expected to reach approximately NTD 50 billion, supporting roughly 14,200 jobs and about NTD 13.8 billion in income. Annual CO₂ reduction could reach up to 10.4 Mt by 2050 under the high-growth scenario, or about 6.86 Mt under the low-growth case, demonstrating the potential of FOW to drive industrial development while advancing national decarbonization.