The Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工業總會) yesterday said that it would recommend energy proposals to the government after a nationwide blackout on Thursday resulted in substantial losses to the industrial sector.
In a news release, the Taipei-based federation said that apart from the effects on the lives of the public, the power outage resulted in estimated losses of NT$10 billion (US$355.7 million) to 48 industrial parks and 521 companies nationwide.
The optoelectronics, petrochemical and steel industries took a huge hit, with petrochemical companies in Kaohsiung’s Linyuan Industrial Park (林園工業區) sustaining the biggest losses, it said.
Photo: CNA
Taking into consideration two major blackouts that occurred in May last year, it is evident that the country’s energy policies need to be revised as soon as possible, it said.
Over the past few years, amid US-China trade tensions, Taiwan has grown as an investment hub, but that has also driven up the nation’s energy consumption, the federation said, adding that the problem needs to be addressed if Taiwan is to retain its new status.
To that end, the federation is working with industry leaders and energy experts to come up with practical and scientific recommendations for improving the government’s energy policies, CNFI chairman William Wong (王文淵) said.
The recommendations could be used not only to resolve Taiwan’s energy crisis, but also to help realize its goal of becoming a carbon-neutral country by 2050, Wong said.
The government should also review its energy policies in recognition of the industrial sector’s role as an integral part of the country’s development and the need for a stable energy supply, the federation said.
However, the federation said that it knows energy policies have become more complicated due to climate change.
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