Determined to denuclearize, Taiwan strikes balance between green energy and low price of electricity

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/26
By: Chris Chang, Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Although the Taiwanese voted in a 2018 referendum to abolish the earlier deadline of 2025 to denuclearize the country, the island nation continues its march toward a greener future.

By 2025, Taiwan will generate 20 percent of its electricity through renewable energy, a goal which is backed by the Four-year Wind Power Promotion Plan and Two-year Solar PV Promotion Plan. Following these projects, the capacity of renewable power is expected to reach 26.9 gigawatts (GW) within five years.

In 2019, the country opened Asia's first commercial offshore wind field outside of Miaoli County. The 22 wind turbines have a total capacity of 120 megawatts (MW) and can support the daily needs of 120,000 to 130,000 households, according to Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲), director of the Electricity Division in Taiwan's Bureau of Energy (BOE).

The current wind farm is composed of wind turbines from Denmark, capital from Japan and Australia, and technical support from the U.K. The presence of foreign companies is necessary at this stage because this technology-intensive industry is entirely new to Taiwan.
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