Taiwan and the UK on Tuesday vowed to deepen their cooperation on developing offshore wind power as Taiwan ramps up efforts to develop sustainable energy to meet its net zero carbon emissions goal.
Speaking at the fourth UK-Taiwan Energy Dialogue, British Representative to Taiwan John Dennis said that the British Taipei Office would be working with Taiwan International Ports Corp on port affairs related to offshore wind power development and with the Taiwanese government on power grid transitioning projects.
Taiwan announced its policy to achieve net-zero emissions soon after the third dialogue last year and has taken action to achieve its goal, highlighting its ambition to lead in the offshore power generation sector in the Asia-Pacific region, Dennis said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
UK-Taiwan collaborations are growing, with 36 British companies establishing bases in Taiwan and supporting domestic development of Taiwanese industries, Dennis said, adding that he believed ensuing collaborations would deepen UK-Taiwan collaborations in the energy sector and in dealing with climate change.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that Taiwan is committed to producing net-zero emissions by 2050 and has proposed concrete measures to achieve this goal.
The UK is a leader in transitioning to a zero-emissions model and in developing offshore wind power, and Taiwan hopes to work with it to develop more low-carbon-based power generation, Wang said.
With both nations sharing a common goal of attaining net zero emissions, Taiwan looks forward to continuing bilateral exchanges of ideas in the energy sector, she added.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has plans to turn Taichung Harbor and Anping Harbor into pre-fab and maintenance bases for offshore wind turbines, Bureau of Energy official Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said at the meeting.
Julie Scott, head of energy diplomacy at the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, welcomed Taiwan Power Co’s planned visit to Drax power station — a large biomass power station in North Yorkshire, England — later this year.
Promising to assist the visit in any way she could, Scott said it could be the precursor to more collaborations on biomass power generation for both sides.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it