Foreign entrepreneurs and Taiwanese academics yesterday urged the government to develop clear policies and foster consensus among the public if the nation wants to develop renewable energy sources and increase renewables’ proportion of the nation’s overall energy makeup to 20 percent by 2025.
“There is, of course, a need for stable government policies on renewable energy, as this is an industry that needs long-term investments for it to develop,” Bill Chiu (邱維倫), managing director for grid modernization and resiliency at Southern California Edison Co, told a news conference at a workshop on strategies for a sustainable energy future held by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) in Taipei.
“However, that brings us another important thing to consider... How to involve the public in the development of renewable energy?” Chiu said.
It is important to have public support in the drive for more renewable energy in this nation, he added.
Chong Ng (黃宗華), head of applied research of ORE Catapult, a UK-based innovation and research center for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, said that support from the public would eventually come as the industry develops, which was the case with the UK’s wind power industry.
“People will start seeing the benefits [of adopting renewable energy] once the industry starts to mature, since the costs would come down,” Ng said.
The development of wind farms would attract more talent and business opportunities to Taiwan, stimulating its economy, he said.
“Education is very important too. We need to get more [local] research centers and universities involved,” he said.
As the nation is still taking baby steps in the development of renewable energy, it is natural for it to face technical challenges head-on, which always arise with the installation of electrical grids, said Lee Wei-jen (李偉仁), director of the Energy Systems Research Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.
“Take [for example] Taiwan’s wind power industry ... how do we transfer electricity in a steady and efficient manner all the while maintaining the quality?” Lee said.
The industry needs to have a complete system to manage the intermittent character of generating wind power, he said.
Local authorities should shed more light on the inner workings of renewable energy industries as unclear policies often create murky waters where blame shifting and work inefficiencies can occur, he added.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
RSS