Individual households nationwide can expect an average increase of NT$3.5 in their monthly electricity bill when renewable energy tariffs take effect next month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.
Average households are likely to pay 0.4 percent more for electricity next year, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Huang Jung-chiou (黃重球) told a press briefing.
The conclusion was derived by a 17-member committee consisting of government officials, academics and representatives from consumer and industrial associations. The committee convened a review meeting yesterday to finalize details on renewable energy tariffs, such as how much Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) would pay for electricity from renewable energy companies.
In 2020 — the 10th year of the government’s renewable energy tariff plan — every household would pay NT$23.3 more per month “in the worst-case scenario,” it said.
The ministry has set a target for the private sector to install equipment that would produce 104 megawatt from renewable energy sources next year. The figure will increase to 215 megawatt in 2011.
The return on investment for companies purchasing alternative energy equipment was adjusted upward to an average of 5.25 percent, instead of between 3 and 5 percent that had been proposed earlier. This figure is still lower than the 6 percent that most companies hoped for to justify their investment costs.
Companies hoped that over the course of 10 to 20 years, they would be able to sell electricity from renewable sources at higher rates for the first few years.
If this method is not adopted, Taipower is expected to buy electricity at a standard rate over the long term: NT$11.1 to NT$12.9 per kilowatt for solar power generators; NT$5.2 per kilowatt for geothermal energy and NT$4.3 per kilowatt for offshore wind power.
More than 60 percent of the nation’s electricity needs are filled by coal and gas-fired power stations, while 20 percent comes from nuclear power plants, according to the Bureau of Energy.
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