Taiwan is considering setting up renewable power plants in neighboring countries, such as the Philippines, and transporting the electricity back home to meet the green power needs of Taiwanese manufacturers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday.
“The green power could be brought back via ships or submarine cables,” the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) quoted Kuo as saying on the sidelines of the annual Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
As local governments and residents frequently differ in opinion about constructing new power plants, and it takes time to communicate and bridge the differences, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has to find a way to meet the nation’s industrial development and carbon reduction goals, as manufacturers needing green power cannot afford to wait, Kuo said.
Photo: CNA
While deliberations on this idea are still in the early stage, Kuo touted the substantial benefits of building renewable power plants abroad.
First, it would address the problem of setting up new power plants in Taiwan, and second, the imported green power would be cheaper than renewable energy developed in Taiwan, he said.
As Taiwan is in the process of shutting down its nuclear power plants and the government has pledged to cut carbon emissions and achieve net zero by 2050, the nation’s demand for green energy would only grow, he said.
Kuo added that the idea of building power plants abroad was inspired by Singapore, which plans to import power from Australia, which is about 4,800km away.
It should therefore not be a problem for Taiwan to establish a green power plant on the Philippine island of Luzon, which is about 300km away, he said.
There are three types of green power that can be developed in the Philippines: solar, wind and geothermal, he said.
“We will look for a neighboring country that offers resources where we can develop green power, and we will encourage Taiwanese firms, not necessarily state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電), to build the power plants there,” before bringing the energy back to Taiwan, Kuo said.
The minister added that American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene would assist Taiwan in finding suitable locations for overseas power plants, including the Philippines and Japan.
Kuo first shed light on building renewable power plants in the Philippines on Monday night when he attended the launch of the Indo-Pacific Strategic Thinktank in Taipei.
He added that Taiwan hopes to contribute to the Luzon Economic Corridor launched by the US, Japan and the Philippines earlier this year to boost regional development.
However, experts said that building a submarine cable between Taiwan and the Philippines could present challenges, including time and cost.
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