If the government is successful in implanting its plans to diversify the nation's energy sources and protect the environment, by 2011 the island's landscape will be transformed with the addition of 200 wind-powered generators. Media reports and online forums have already heralded the arrival of the renewable energy era, and though such views may be premature, business and the government aim to install turbines capable of generating 2,159 megawatts of power, which is projected to provide 4.2 percent of Taiwan's electricity needs, a big increase from the current 0.02 percent.
As soaring oil prices and the threat of global warming prompt governments around the world to explore green energy sources, wind power, with its higher cost efficiency than other renewable energy sources, stands out as a promising star. In Taiwan, wind energy is the least expensive green power source compared to current alternatives, and is able to compete with coal-fired plants on cost.
An attractive alternative
PHOTO: HUANG CHI-HAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Buffeted by strong winds, Taiwan is in a better position than Europe or the US to harness the renewable energy source. The island boasts about 2,000km2 of land where the average wind speed is 4 meters per second, the minimum strength at which a wind turbine can begin to generate electricity. The west and north coasts and offshore islands experience the nation's strongest winds, and are seen as ideal sites for wind farms.
Wind power, however, may not be the perfect panacea that it is sometimes portrayed as.
Climatic conditions are not suitable for the yearlong harvesting of wind power. Between October and March winds are powerful enough to drive the turbines, but during summer, when electricity demand is highest, they drop off.
PHOTO: LUO CHENG-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
“Technically speaking, it's possible to store the electricity generated by wind power plants, but the cost is just too high,” Ho Chien-huei (何建輝), a deputy director at Taipower's (台灣電力公司) Department of Power Development said.
The unstable nature of the elements cements wind energy's role as an auxiliary power source. Since wind flows are neither steady nor constant, the fluctuating amount of electricity generated by the turbines could interfere with the normal operation of the whole utility grid.
Taipower needs to conduct an analysis of grid connectivity for each wind farm to ensure supply stability, Ho said.
Though building wind farms will not spell the demise of nuclear or coal-fired power plants, advocates of renewable energy argue that the construction of wind farms should be seen as a necessary step in developing home-grown energy, diversifying power sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The history
In the 1980s, the Industrial Technology Research Institute and Taipower built small wind turbines in Hsinchu County (新竹縣), as well as on the offshore islands of Penghu (澎湖) and Kinmen (金門), to study and evaluate wind power's potential. After the government released a five-year renewable energy subsidy plan in 2000, Formosa Heavy Industries Corp (台塑重工), a unit of Formosa Plastics Group, installed Taiwan's first wind-power systems to supply power to its factories in Mailiao, Yunlin County (雲林縣麥寮). In 2002, Tien Loong Corporation's (天隆造紙廠) paper mills began using energy from two Denmark-designed wind turbines located in northern Hsinchu County.
Since 2001, Taipower has installed eight wind-powered generators on Penghu, and in 2004 the main island's first commercial wind farm — located in Shihmen Township, Taipei County (台北縣石門鄉), and built by Taipower — went online.
New plants in Hengchun (恆春) and Taoyuan County (桃園縣) are operational and are expected, by 2010, to contribute one quarter of the nation's wind-powered energy capacity.
“Divided into three phases, our 10-year wind-power development plan started in 2002. And by 2011, we hope to have built around 200 wind turbines on the main island and Penghu… . Currently, we are also evaluating the possibility of building offshore wind farms that require more advanced technology and greater investment,” Ho said. An undersea cable connecting Penghu and the main island, scheduled for completion in 2011, will further boost the wind-power industry.
Opening up the market
Besides the state-run institute, private companies from abroad are also vying to take advantage of Taiwan's wind-power resources.
German company InfraVest Wind Power Group arrived in Taiwan in 2000 after the newly elected Democratic Progressive Party decided to fund investment in renewable energy.
This April, 25 wind turbines began operation in Houlung (後龍鄉) and Chunan (竹南鄉) Townships, Miaoli County (苗栗縣). With a total capacity of 49.8 megawatts, the largest in Asia, the wind farms are able to power 50,000 households, according to the company's general manger Ma Wei-lin (馬維麟). Wind-powered plants in Taichung (台中) and Changpin Industrial Park (彰濱工業區) in Changhua (彰化) will become operational in two years.
As the first private builder of wind farms in Taiwan, InfraVest entered the market at a time when the supply of electricity generated by wind power was virtually unheard of.
“We really started from scratch. From educating local governments on the benefits of wind energy, wind-site evaluation, construction, to negotiating with Taipower on the electricity purchase price, we have done it all by ourselves. Technology is no problem. Uncertain policies and dealing with the administration are real big headaches,” Ma said.
A proposed statute on the development of renewable energy sets the purchase price of NT$2 per kilowatt-hour, guaranteed by Taipower, for electricity generated by wind power. A joint enterprise between Taiwan Transportation Machinery Corporation (台灣運輸機械公司) and a Japanese company obtained permission to build three wind farms from the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, but shelved the plans as they deemed the guaranteed price as too low.
Interest in wind power has sparked a land acquisition race. Acting on the motto of “whoever gets there first wins,” power companies have been competing to purchase land with the highest wind-energy potential.
“Since the cost of building a plant is the same across the country, areas with stronger winds can expect to bring in more profits,” said Lee Chun–lee (李君禮), head of the Renewable Energy Division at the Bureau of Energy. And, according to Taipower's Ho, most of the potential sites for wind farms have already been snapped up.
“Private companies sit on the land waiting for better offers, and the MOEA can do nothing to push forward construction,” Ho lamented.
Environmental issues
For Wang, the major obstacle to developing wind power lies within the bureaucracy.
“Our environmental impact reports on several sites have been repeatedly rejected by the Environmental Protection Administration. Whatever the experts say counts. There is no room for debates,” Ma said.
Since Taiwan is a temporary home to many kinds of migratory birds, the main ecological concerns raised by bureaucrats and local conservation groups is that wind turbines could endanger wildlife. Studies conducted in several European countries, however, show the number of birds killed by wind turbines is negligible when compared to the amount that die as a result of other human activities.
According to Yan Wen-jyh (顏文治), manager of the Wind and Solar Energy Laboratory at the New Energy Technology Division, Industrial Technology Research Institute, the noise and electromagnetic waves generated by modern wind turbines can hardly stand out as issues. The constant, low, swooshing noise the turbine blades make falls below 45 decibels and is equal to the ambient sound measured 300m away from the wind generator.
The study conducted by the institute also showed that the largest electromagnetic waves detected around wind turbines are equal in strength to those produced by the average computer monitor.
As over 90 percent of the equipment and techniques required to build wind farms are imported, developing the local industry is high on government's agenda.
Starting this year, MOEA will provide an annual budget of NT$40 million — a fraction of the funds provided by countries such as Germany and Spain — to foster the manufacturing capabilities of private business.
“Taiwan doesn't have a wind-power industry yet, but our private sector has good prospects. Some companies are interested in manufacturing key components as part of the global division of labor, while some are looking to take up the challenge of building the whole model,” Lee from the Bureau of Energy said. “We have lots of manufacturers of gear wheels and glass fiber, which are needed to make the turbine blades. All we need is the design chart and we can make it happen.”
Founded last year, the Taiwan Wind Energy Industry Research and Development Alliance (台灣風力發電產業研發聯盟) is the incarnation of such a can-do spirit. Consisting of prominent enterprises such as Teco Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機) and Chin Feng Machinery Co (金豐機械), government bodies and research institutes, the alliance has already started its ambitious project to complete a turbine prototype by 2008 and make a commercially viable version by 2010.
If the partnership between government and business succeeds, and the ecological concerns allayed, Taiwan could become a major player in the renewable energy market, as it does in the global IT industry.
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