Offshore wind energy companies yesterday clinched approvals from regulators, making strides in the race to secure favorable power purchase agreements with the government before the end of the year.
Following a coastal zone management review meeting, the Ministry of the Interior gave the green light to seven offshore wind project applications in Changhua County by Orsted A/S, Northland Power Inc, Yushan Energy Co (玉山能源), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and China Steel Corp (中鋼).
With only a little more than a week left in the year, companies have been scrambling to secure agreements at the current feed-in tariff of NT$5.8498 per kilowatt-hour after the government announced a proposal to cap the rate at NT$5.106 for the next 20 years.
While the approvals were the final regulatory hurdle to cross, the ministry said it would take two or three business days for it to conduct its final audits and checks to seal the deals.
The seven projects cover an area of 805km2 off the Changhua coast, of which 7.6 percent, or 61km2, is under the jurisdiction of the Coastal Zone Management Act (海岸管理法), the ministry said.
A panel found that the companies met government requirements to bring minimal disruptions to the environment and shipping lanes, the ministry said.
The firms have agreed to coordinate among themselves to keep underwater power lines and docks close to each other to minimize their footprint, it said.
In addition, the companies have agreed to employ third-party observers to monitor changes to the geology and ecosystem, as well as promising to provide compensation for seabed ecology restoration efforts and incentives to the local government, the ministry said.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
RSS