The Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to boost its solar energy production target to 500 megawatts (MW) in a continuing bid to whip up diversification of the nation’s energy sources to confront the rising risk of power shortages, energy officials said on Saturday.
The Bureau of Energy announced the plan during a running event on Saturday to underscore its resolve to promote sources of renewable energy.
“The bureau is studying plans to raise solar power installation targets from 270MW to 500MW this year with a view to growing installed capacity and aiding the industry,” Bureau of Energy Deputy Director-General Jennifer Wu (吳玉珍) said before the event.
The target adjustment would mark another effort by the government to diversify energy sources and cut carbon emissions in a bid to make Taiwan a better place to live and more environmentally sustainable, Wu said.
The nation’s renewable energy installations totaled 407MW in capacity as of the end of January, with annual electricity generation at 123 megawatt hours (MWH), Wu said, adding that the installations would help cut carbon dioxide emissions by 6.41 million tonnes a year.
Nevertheless, renewable energy sources by themselves are unable to meet the demand for electricity in the foreseeable future, the bureau said in a statement last week.
The bureau is working on a long-term development plan to cut the nation’s dependence on energy imports, the statement said.
Toward that goal, policymakers have raised the target for total installed capacity of renewable energy sources to 13,750MW in 2030, from the 10,858MW projected in 2010, an upgrade of 26.6 percent, the bureau said.
“The goal appears likely to materialize five years ahead of schedule, based on the progress so far,” the statement said.
The Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條例) of 2009 provides a legal foundation for feed-in tariffs and other incentives for solar, onshore wind, offshore wind, biomass and hydropower installations.
The government plans to increase solar capacity to 4,500MW by 2020 and enable 7.5 million residents to use solar energy by 2030.
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