The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條例), which set a goal for the nation’s renewable energy sources to reach a total of capacity of 27 gigawatts by 2025.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to review renewable energy development goals for next year and 2021, set development plans and publish the proportion that each source of renewable energy should contribute, according to the amended act.
To realize the goal by 2025, local governments should evaluate the potential for developing renewable energy sources in their jurisdiction, and may establish power generation facilities with an installed capacity of up to 2,000 kilowatts, the act says.
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Power generation facilities with an installed capacity of greater than 2,000 kilowatts should be established by the ministry, it says.
The ministry should set up a renewable energy fund that draws from fees levied on non-renewable energy retailers, as well as on entities with self-use non-renewable power generation facilities, the act stipulates.
The ministry should establish a committee comprising representatives from relevant agencies, experts, academics and civic groups to review feed-in tariffs for the purchase of renewable energy and design a formula to calculate prices, it says.
The ministry may set out a period during which it can provide incentives for renewable energy generation facilities that it deems to have potential or for demonstration, the act says.
The amendments stipulate that renewable energy generation facilities can be established in Aboriginal territories in accordance with the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法).
If the premises of the government agencies, public schools or state-run enterprises undergo expansion or renovation, or if new structures are erected, they should be equipped with renewable energy generation facilities as long as sites meet the requirements, the act says.
The ministry said that the government’s “nuclear-free homeland by 2025” initiative aims to boost the proportion of renewable energy to 20 percent of the nation’s energy makeup, and the passage of the amendments would help to provide a legal basis for that goal.
Cities or counties that are home to state-run renewable energy generation facilities would receive some of the profits generated from clean energy sales as a reward, it said.
The amended act includes wording stating the government’s resolve to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve the nation’s energy makeup.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗), a sponsor of the amendments, said that the world invests more than twice as much in renewables as it does in fossil fuels.
At a time when industry leaders such as Apple, Sony and Google have joined the RE100 renewable power movement, the amendments would hopefully bring Taiwan clean energy, boost its economy and improve its global competitiveness, she said.
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