There is a way to help a nation develop clean energy sources that would conserve the environment without sacrificing economic gains, and with some policy framework tweaking, the scheme could work for Taiwan, said Stefan Schurig, climate and energy director of the World Future Council.
The policy tool he was referring to is called the “Feed-in Tariff (FIT),” a scheme that has worked in Germany and 40 other countries since the late 1970s, successfully boosting the speed of technological development for renewable energy while also providing jobs and stimulating GDP growth.
“[Because of FIT], Germany has become a global leader in solar energy, owning 55 percent of the world’s solar cell panels,” he said during a visit to Taipei last month.
Schurig came to Taiwan to attend a climate change hearing hosted by the e-parliament, a forum that saw legislators from across the region gather to discuss policy and technologies capable of combating global warming.
The idea behind FIT is simple, Schurig said.
“The government sets a favorable price for all energy generated by clean sources, such as wind and solar power, then mandates all grid operators [power line owners] to purchase them, from clean energy providers, at those prices,” he said.
In other words, “however much electricity a windmill owner can put out, grid operators are mandated by law to purchase them, and at a good, set price,” he said.
Another component of FIT is that relatively newer renewable energy technologies receive better prices, encouraging investors to put money into developing innovative ways to generate power, he said.
“For example, since wind turbines technologies are mature, they are purchased at about 10 euro cents per watt per hour, whereas relatively newer technologies like photovoltaic [PV] power can be sold for as much as 60 euro cents per watt hour — but in the future with the advancement of PV technology, the prices will similarly go down,” he said.
Coal-generated power, on the other hand, can only be sold at about eight euro cents per unit, he said.
The final component of the scheme is that all power users share the additional cost of the electricity, induced by being generated from clean sources, which has several advantages, Shurig said.
“Currently about 11 percent of Germany’s electricity comes from clean sources. If you divide the extra cost by all power users across the nation, that only translates to about 1.5 euros per household extra per month,” he said.
The scheme works seamlessly as a “transitional policy” because when clean energy only comprises a small percentage of the total energy output of a nation, the additional cost shared by all power users is “barely noticeable,” Shurig said.
“And as an energy technology matures and is capable of producing more power output, its set price decreases, so that everyone’s power bills remain relatively the same,” he said.
Since the renewable developments do not come from tax dollars, not only are governments alleviated of the burden of providing subsidies, should a country elect a new government, the renewable power plants cannot be taken away, since they are bought and owned by the people, he said.
Joe Hsu (徐鼎昌), unit chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ task force on international environmental affairs, said FIT could work for Taiwan.
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