The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced wholesale rates for the renewable energy yesterday, with the tariffs expected to take effect in one week.
The private sector is being encouraged to deploy new equipment to produce renewable energy such as wind power or solar power as the nation seeks to reduce dependence on coal and natural gas and cut carbon dioxide emissions.
Companies could then sell the energy to state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) over the next 20 years at NT$11.1 to NT$12.9 per kilowatt-hour for solar power generators, NT$5.2 per kilowatt-hour for geothermal energy and NT$4.3 per kilowatt-hour for wind power, among a number of other options.
ABSORBING COSTS
While the government has no plans to increase utility rates for households next year, consumers are expected to play their part in absorbing the costs of alternative energy, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said at a year-end press gathering on Tuesday.
Consumers will be expected to pay an average NT$3.5, or 0.4 percent, more every month in electricity fees starting in February, the ministry said.
Wholesale rates for electricity generated by alternative energy are higher than those for ordinary fossil fuels, so the government is encouraging company generation of renewable energy through the sales to Taipower, it said.
The Act Governing Development of Renewable Energy (再生能源發展條例) passed its third reading in the Legislative Yuan on June 12.
SUPPORT
The ministry yesterday cited a recent survey showing support for the government’s alternative energy policy.
In the ministry-commissioned poll conducted by Shih Hsin University, 89 percent of respondents said they supported the policy, despite the extra cost. As much as 80 percent supported the “pay-per-use” charging mechanism.
Seventy-five percent of respondents said they supported the policy as long as their electricity bills didn’t rise by more than NT$15 a month, while 60 percent said a rise of NT$30 per month would be acceptable.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
RSS