Because it lacks natural resources, Taiwan has to rely heavily on imported energy sources to generate electricity, meaning that more than 97 percent of the power the nation uses — primarily from oil, coal and natural gas — comes from overseas. Given this dependence, the nation needs a sustainable and consistent “green” energy policy to ensure a stable power supply, but apparently it does not have one.
Since 2005, the government has held four large-scale energy meetings, with the aim of improving energy legislation to facilitate the use of green energy sources. However, as of 2012, just 3.4 percent of Taiwan’s power was generated sustainably and fossil fuels still accounted for nearly 90 percent of all energy generated, statistics from state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) showed.
As a result, Taipower is typically under heavy financial pressure caused by the volatility of global commodity prices. Last year, it lost NT$17.06 billion (US$561.5 million) amid a surge in the cost of imported fuels, bringing its accumulated losses to NT$193.11 billion. In addition, the company has to cope with the government’s policy of purchasing power from independent energy producers.
The government is conservative about accelerating the adoption of green energy sources, even though Taiwan is the world’s No. 2 solar cell supplier, after China. This year, domestic solar companies are expected to increase their revenue by about 20 percent annually to NT$187.7 billion.
The government’s goal to have 6.2 gigawatts in installed solar power capacity nationwide by 2030 — a minuscule amount already eclipsed by the 6.8 gigawatts in installed capacity Japan has achieved so far this year — reflects this attitude. Furthermore, the government’s pricing policy does not support even that insignificant target.
The Bureau of Energy, which is in charge of the nation’s green energy subsidy policy, last month proposed cutting the feed-in-tariff mechanism for solar power suppliers by more than 16 percent to NT$5.36 per unit next year, compared with NT$6.04 at the end of last year. The rate cut will not stimulate solar power system installation and the final feed-in-tariff rates could go down further after a bidding process. Since most solar firms are capable of reducing costs by only 3 to 4 percent a year, selling solar systems would be unprofitable under the proposal.
As if this were not enough, the government’s only measures to promote green energy generation are its inadequate solar power capacity goal and its annual pricing mechanism — that is it. No supporting measures are available to facilitate the adoption of sustainable energy generation. For example, since many Taiwanese illegally construct metal roofs, the government could revise the Building Act (建築法) to encourage people to replace their sheet-metal roofs with solar panels. Another measure could be an incentive program encouraging farmers to install ground-based solar power arrays in idle fields, since about 222,000 hectares of farmland lie fallow nationwide and could potentially host a large-scale solar power system.
Public education is also insufficient. When it comes to solar power, most Taiwanese think of solar water heaters instead of solar panel systems like those increasingly adopted in nations like the US and Japan.
Last year, the government launched a project to encourage households to install rooftop solar panels to generate power for their personal use and sell any excess electricity to Taipower. However, too little publicity was generated to promote the policy and show people that they could save on electricity costs and even make some extra money by installing solar panels.
The nation not only needs a significant target for green energy generation adoption, but, more importantly, it needs a comprehensive sustainable energy policy.
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