The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it planned to cut feed-in-tariff (FIT) rates for solar energy to between 0.34 and 2.44 percent annually to benefit installations.
In a preliminary review, the ministry proposed a rate of NT$3.9408 to NT$5.7788 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for next year.
The rate for energy generated by rooftop systems with a capacity of under 20kW would be trimmed from NT$5.7983 per kWh this year to NT$5.7788 per kWh next year, the ministry said in a statement.
The smaller-than-expected cuts came after demands from environmentalists last month that the government maintain strong incentives for people and small businesses to install rooftop solar panels.
The ministry said it would extend programs affected by the rate change, including up to 18 months for the installation of solar power systems with a booster station of 69kW or above.
Extensions are also to apply to bonuses for green energy participation, such as a 15 percent increase in FIT rates for the installation of renewable-energy systems on outlying islands, it said.
Sport facilities that have solar canopies and awning systems approved by the Ministry of Education would benefit from a 6 percent rise in the rate, the ministry said.
Rooftop solar systems installed on Aboriginal land and in rural counties would benefit from a 1 percent increase in the rates, it said.
The rates for offshore wind energy next year would be NT$5.0946, down 7.64 percent from NT$5.516 last year, it said.
The tiered FIT scheme offering higher rates in the first 10 years would decrease from NT$6.2795 this year to NT$5.8015 next year, while they would decline from NT$4.1422 in 2021 to NT$3.8227 over the next decade, it said.
Energy generated from biomass, biodegradable waste and small hydro projects would benefit from rate rises of 1 to 4 percent as the ministry seeks to encourage greater implementation of such systems.
The ministry announced a public hearing in Taipei on Thursday next week to discuss the implementation rates for wind power and other sources of renewable energy.
A second hearing would be held in Tainan for solar power, as most solar power projects are in central or southern Taiwan, the ministry said, adding that it plans to validate the FIT rates this month.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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