Environmental activists yesterday said the government was lying about the truth with regard to solar energy, saying that using solar energy actually helps reduce electricity costs rather than raise them.
The criticism came after the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced last month a controversial new pricing policy for solar power that calculates rates based on the completion date of an installed facility, rather than when the contract was signed.
The ministry defended its decision, saying the public would be subsidizing private solar energy suppliers a total of NT$432 billion (US$14.8 billion) over 20 years if the rates were calculated from the date when the contract was signed, which would in turn raise electricity costs.
Activists said the new pricing policy violated the law and would kill the development of renewable energy.
Citing 2009 statistics from Taiwan Power, Jay Fang (方儉), chairman of Green Consumer’s Foundation, told a press conference yesterday that the statistics showed that the power plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Linkou (林口) spent approximately NT$490 million generating about 2.33 million kilowatts of net power, with the cost of each kilowatt more than NT$210.
The cost of the Taichung Thermal Power Plant, on the other hand, was NT$59.25 per kilowatt, he said.
“The whole sale price for solar energy is NT$13, a little bit higher than prices for other forms of energy,” Fang said. “The electricity costs will only drop even if the government buys the solar energy at a wholesale price of NT$20.”
Fang said solar power is most useful when the Sun is strongest during the day, which is about four to five hours per day. He said that the demand for electricity is also strongest during these hours as well.
“The cost of generating power during these peak hours is also the highest because some of the machines are only used to meet the demand in this short period of time and are put aside when it is not peak hours. These underused facilities only add up to operational costs,” he said.
Fang said that solar energy could meet the demand for electricity during peak hours.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said Taiwan Power spent NT$214.3 billion a year purchasing fuel to generate power and the cost for this fuel would get more expensive with the rising global demand for energy.
“We have to import 99.7 percent of our energy from overseas, which has threatened national security,” Tien said. “Developing solar or wind power is our only hope to produce energy and sustain ourselves.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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