The Ministry of Economic Affairs has held three public hearings on amendments to the Electricity Act (電業法). The Cabinet aims to submit a draft to the legislature for review before the legislative session begins next month.
Under the proposal, the electricity sector would undergo a major transition from a state-run system to a market-driven pricing scheme. The government is making an effort to break the nation’s electricity monopoly and welcome private participants to the market.
Looking at electricity reform worldwide, a sound institutional design is critical to ensuring a transition to a low-carbon electricity supply while maintaining reasonable electricity prices and adequate energy security. Over the past two decades, the world’s largest developing countries, such as Brazil, India, Mexico, Argentina and China, have also initiated power sector reforms and articulated reform strategies referencing some advanced jurisdictions, such as California, England and the EU.
From the beginning of its reform process, the EU decided to move toward a low-carbon electricity supply, with an emphasis on increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources, the introduction of a cap on carbon emissions and the establishment of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
From this, the key components of a successful low-carbon electricity supply transition can be distilled. First, privatization of state-run electricity monopolies; second, vertical separation of potentially competitive elements, such as generation, marketing and retail supply; third, horizontal integration of transmission facilities and network operations; fourth, competitive procurement processes for low-carbon generation, with reasonable exposure to wholesale price variability; fifth, appropriate pricing of environmental externalities; sixth, development of demand participation in wholesale market prices; seventh, cost reflective access terms for renewables; and eighth, well-established transition mechanisms.
While the experiences in implementing reform vary by jurisdiction within the EU, overall progress has been remarkable. The EU model demonstrates that energy and environmental policies can be inextricably linked.
According to Taiwan’s intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), the nation accounted for approximately 0.55 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions in 2012 and about 0.8 percent of total global carbon emissions. The report also said that the energy and manufacturing industries make up the highest proportion (about 43.25 percent) of Taiwan’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the current draft mainly focuses on legal separation of electricity markets and the restructuring of state-run Taiwan Power Co. It has not clearly integrated this liberalizing process with the national emission reduction target, utility rate design and other important social and technological issues, such as adequate supply of low-cost electricity to poorer households and long-term investment in energy innovation.
Article 3 of the Basic Environment Act (環境基本法) and Article 5 of Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act (溫室氣體減量及管理法 ) state that the government’s energy policies place balanced emphasis on environmental protection, economic development and social justice.
Under this integrated approach, the draft might explicitly include low-carbon targets or environmental considerations and enhance the institutional connections with the INDC, Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條例) and Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act.
Yang Chung-han is a doctoral candidate researching international environmental law at the University of Cambridge and is a member of the Taipei Bar Association.
As the incursions by China into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone intensify, the international community’s anxiety has risen over the question of whether the US military would become directly involved in the case of an attack on Taiwan. Washington’s long-held policy of “strategic ambiguity” does little to ease the trepidation. The rationale universally espoused on “strategic ambiguity” is that an announced commitment from Washington to directly defend Taiwan would encourage Taiwanese independence and consequently bring forth a Chinese military attack and a possible nuclear confrontation between two superpowers. However, this line of argument could soon lose steam if the subject is viewed from
Having deceived the world about its nuclear capabilities while preparing for an arms race, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now using its increasing nuclear forces for virtual nuclear coercion. This new threat will continue until the United States, Japan, and Taiwan can restore the CCP’s sense of fear. This dynamic is a familiar one for Taiwan. As the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) capabilities have grown, its inhibitions about conducting larger and more frequent coercive military demonstrations have shrunk. The PLA now more openly practices for the destruction of Taiwan’s democracy and the murder of its citizens. In the nuclear realm,
In an unprecedented move, a group of democratic nations led by the US, UK and EU in a joint statement on Tuesday accused the Chinese Ministry of State Security of having carried out a major cyberattack earlier this year and stealing data from at least 30,000 organizations worldwide, including governments, universities and firms in key industries. Western officials were reportedly perplexed by the attack’s brazen execution and unparalleled scale. In an article on the attack, BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera wrote: “Western spies are still struggling to understand why Chinese behavior has changed.” The attack raises the fear “that they [China]
At the conclusion of the G7 Leaders’ Summit on June 13, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who participated virtually, called for the reform of multilateral institutions as the best signal of commitment to the cause of open societies. His comments are significant in light of China’s ongoing and successful efforts to control international organizations, and, in particular, to keep Taiwan out of critical health agencies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. China’s influence over the WHO is well known. It has used this control to deny Taiwan a place at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decisionmaking body of the WHO. Taiwan’s absence
RSS