The Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday that electricity rates would rise slightly after the government finalizes a subsidy program for renewable energy.
“A minimal rise in fees is necessary to offset the cost of government repurchasing renewable energy from the private sector,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Huang Jung-chiou (黃重球) told a press briefing.
The ministry said the rate increase was expected to be in the low single digits over a course of a number of years after the subsidy program is implemented.
Huang said the government hoped to finalize details — including the formula for calculating rebates for privately owned companies selling renewable energy to the government, or subsidies for enterprises investing in equipment to produce solar or wind power — early next year to encourage adoption of renewable energy.
Huang’s remarks came after the ministry’s third public hearing earlier yesterday to gather feedback from industries on the subsidy and rebate program.
Company representatives at the meeting said the government’s proposed rebates for sales of renewable energy to the state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) were too low and the return on investment in green-energy equipment was not attractive enough.
One of the proposals, for instance, calls for Taipower to purchase renewable energy from private solar power generators for NT$8 to NT$9 per kilowatt-hour for 20 years. This would translate into an investment return of less than 3 percent for private operators, who are asking that the rate be raised to at least 6 percent.
The government doesn’t rule out offering “better rates” to attract private energy operators, Yeh Huey-ching (葉惠青), the director-general of the Bureau of Energy, said at the same briefing.
All feedback from the meeting yesterday will be forwarded to a 17-member committee that includes government officials, professors and representatives from consumer and industrial associations. The committee will hold a second meeting this month to finalize the program’s details.
The ministry said it had assured companies at yesterday’s hearing that all feedback would be taken into consideration and it welcomed others to contribute ideas and opinions to the program.
The Act Governing Development of Renewable Energy (再生能源發展條例), which cleared the legislative floor on June 12, lays down a legal framework to encourage investment in renewable energy production and offer incentives to local consumers to install renewable energy equipment.
The government aims to encourage the use of clean energy, including solar and wind power, to reduce reliance on conventional power sources.
More than 60 percent of the nation’s electricity needs are filled by coal-fired and gas-fired power stations; another 20 percent comes from nuclear power plants, the bureau said.
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