TRUE COST: Star Energy said that foreign wind energy developers are considering leaving, as the cut does not reflect higher building costs and content requirements
Taipei Times
Date: Dec 26, 2018
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) yesterday agreed to reassess the metrics used in deciding the nation’s feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy.
Following a heated public hearing with solar power industry representatives in Taipei, Tseng said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) could improve its assessment of the FIT, which it had based on a report that the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) had been commissioned to conduct at a cost of more than NT$20 million (US$649,140).
The assessment metric relies on receipts and does not fully reflect the true cost of solar projects, industry representatives said yesterday, with many tipping their hat to protesters in Paris by donning yellow reflective vests.
“Moving forward, the ministry will hold separate public hearings to iron out conflicting views on the processes for selecting solar project receipts,” Tseng told reporters on the sidelines of the hearing, following criticism that the TIER report was flawed and based on questionable data. [FULL STORY]