Electricity consumption is projected to grow 1.86 percent year-on-year from last year to 2025 and electricity prices to increase 29 percent, given that fuel prices remain unchanged, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said yesterday, citing the ministry’s latest electricity consumption report.
The estimated 1.86 percent growth is an upward revision from the 1.26 percent estimated by the ministry in 2017 after factoring in large investments in the semiconductor sector, more overseas businesses returning home, climate change and the emergence of electric vehicles, Shen said at a hearing at the legislature in Taipei.
By 2025, it is estimated that the average cost of electricity would be NT$3.39 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), up from NT$2.62, Shen said.
The ministry had estimated the price would be NT$0.5 higher than in 2017, but added NT$0.03 after the government scrapped a plan to build a coal-fired power plant in Shenao Harbor (深澳灣).
The ministry estimated that NT$470 billion (US$15.24 billion) would be needed to phase out the nation’s three nuclear power plants, a 40 percent increase from the NT$335.3 billion estimated in the 2017 report.
To help keep electricity prices stable, price increases are to be capped at 3 percent this year and the ministry would use an energy price stabilization fund to offset any losses at state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電), Shen said.
Considering the stability of crude oil prices this year, there is no immediate need to increase electricity prices, but the decision is to be taken by the ministry’s electricity price review committee, Shen said.
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