The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday established the National Renewable Energy Certificate center as part of efforts to attract foreign enterprises that pledge to use “renewable” energy when investing or placing orders with local manufacturers.
“Google and some foreign companies used to raise doubts over the ‘purity’ of the renewable energy supply here. Certificates issued by the center could ease such concerns,” Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) said, adding that both Google and Apple Inc have welcomed the center.
The Taipei-based center is to issue its first renewable energy certificate (REC) before the end of June at the earliest, according to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection.
‘GREEN’ TAGS
RECs, also known as “green” tags, provide proof that an enterprise’s electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy source. The US, EU, Japan and Australia also have institutions to issue RECs.
Certifiable renewable energy sources include solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal power, bureau Director-General Liu Ming-chung (劉明忠) said.
The center will verify the power generation process and investigate a company’s actual “green” power usage, Liu said.
In addition, the center could serve as a matchmaking platform to help enterprises seek power companies to buy “green” energy and obtain RECs.
CLOSELY MONITORED
Some international companies, such as Google, have closely monitored the ministry’s process to establish the center as they have investments in Taiwan, a source at the bureau told the Taipei Times on condition of anonymity.
The source said that after Apple on Thursday released its environmental report saying that three more of its suppliers have pledged to power their production lines only with renewable energy sources by the end of next year, the bureau received “countless” calls from local firms in the Apple supply chain asking about the process of applying for RECs.
The bureau is to host a conference for enterprises and power companies on Friday next week to explain the REC application process in detail, the source said.
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