Tue, Oct 31, 2017 page3

• Inconsistent policy blamed for slow development of renewables, poll finds

  • By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
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  More than half the people in a poll said the government’s inconsistent energy policy is to blame for the nation’s slow development of renewable energy, according to a survey published yesterday by the group Mom Loves Taiwan.

  Asked who is to blame for the nationwide power outage on Aug. 15, 45.3 percent of respondents said state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) should be held accountable for their flawed management, the group’s secretary-general Yang Shun-mei (楊順美) said.

  Regarding President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) announcement that the nation is to generate 20 percent of electricity from renewables by 2025, 60.5 percent of respondents said they do not know about the policy, while 57.8 percent said that the goal is impossible to achieve.

  Japan has sped up solar power development since the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster, and it generated about 4 percent of its electricity from solar systems last year, the group’s director Gloria Hsu (徐光蓉) said.

  By contrast, Taiwan passed the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條例) in 2009, but it generated less than 1 percent of electricity from solar and wind power last year, she said.

  Asked why they thought the nation’s development of renewables lags behind Japan’s and Germany’s, 55.6 percent of respondents said the government’s inconsistent energy policy is the major cause.

  According to the poll, 29.5 percent of respondents said the administrative barriers put up by Taipower were another reason, while 25.5 percent said energy developers do not have the necessary technology, hindering development.

  Last week, Premier William Lai (賴清德) announced a policy to promote household installation of rooftop solar systems, saying the government will cover 100 percent of design costs and 40 percent of construction costs.

  Yang applauded the policy, but added that reduced energy purchase rates for smaller solar systems would discourage people from getting involved.

  The rate for rooftop solar systems below 20 kilowatts is to be reduced from NT$6.1033 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this year to NT$5.3848 per kWh in the first half of next year and NT$5.2827 per kWh in the second half, data by the Ministry of Economic Affairs published last month showed.

  The government should instead cut the purchase rate for big developers whose solar systems have larger capacity and who sell electricity to Taipower, she said.

  The government’s energy policy lacks a feasible road map and detailed steps that can achieve its goal by 2025 and look beyond to 2030 and 2050, Yang added.

  The telephone survey was conducted from Oct. 11 to Oct. 17 and collected 2,145 samples from people above 18 years old. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

  Founded in 2013, Mom Loves Taiwan is devoted to supervising the nation’s nuclear power management and energy policy, with most of its members being women.
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