Greenpeace on Tuesday called for the near monopolization of domestic renewable energy supply by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to be replaced by a framework that better supports the self-generation of green electricity by private enterprises.
Greenpeace made the recommendation in its annual report on RE10x10, an initiative launched by the non-governmental organization in 2020 advocating for Taiwanese enterprises to reach 10 percent green electricity use by 2025, and 100 percent by 2050.
Describing green electricity as in “dire short supply,” the report said that Taipower currently purchases about 95 percent of the renewable energy generated in Taiwan under its Feed-in-Tariff program, a long-term contract initially offered to renewable energy companies to insure them against market volatility.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
As of November last year, the total amount of renewable energy generated in the nation was 22.96 billion kilowatt-hours, but only 1.283 million T-Rec certificates — Taiwan’s renewable energy certificate — were issued, Greenpeace’s Lydia Fang (方君維) said.
A certificate is equivalent to 1,000 kilowatt-hours.
That means that only about 5 percent of the renewable energy generated was on the market for enterprises to purchase, Fang said, adding that about 80 percent of the remainder was purchased by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Fang said Greenpeace advises the government to help mediate between providers, electricity-intensive enterprises that are willing to set up green electricity facilities for their own use and those enterprises that have experience installing renewable energy facilities.
Green electricity can be obtained in three ways — direct supply from renewable energy-generating companies, having green energy generated by renewable energy companies via Taipower’s distribution system or T-Rec purchasing.
New ways have been developed throughout the renewable energy market, such as setting up green energy facilities such as solar panels or investing in facilities installed outside a company, such as a school, and purchasing the electricity generated, Fang said.
The government therefore has a role to play in offering a mediation platform to these parties — enterprises with green energy needs, renewable energy companies and those who have the space to facilitate production of green electricity needed by Taiwanese companies, Fang said.
There is a shortage of green energy supply in Taiwan rendering it extremely difficult for enterprises to obtain green electricity, Fang said.
The report says that 18 of the 102 companies that have signed up to the RE10x10 pledge had successfully reached 10 percent green electricity use, with 11 surpassing 20 percent.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
NO RIGHT: After 38 years of martial law under the former KMT government, the KMT is the least qualified to accuse others of harboring such intentions, DPP officials said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of creating a stir on social media by implying that the government supports martial law, adding that the KMT is the least qualified to criticize others after decades of martial law in Taiwan under the former KMT regime. After South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol late on Tuesday night declared martial law (which was rescinded six hours later), the DPP caucus issued a statement on Thread saying that Taiwan’s legislature was facing a situation similar to that in South Korea, which had prompted Yoon to declare martial law. “The South
‘FACT-BASED’: There is no ban, and 2 million Taiwanese have traveled to China this year, which is more than the 285,000 Chinese who visited Taiwan, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday accused China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of shifting the blame for Beijing’s tourism ban on Taiwan, continuing a war of words that started in the past week. The council’s remark came hours after its Chinese counterpart on Friday accused the government of creating barriers to the resumption of reciprocal group tours across the Taiwan Strait. The TAO accused the MAC of releasing untruthful information and dragging its feet on the tourism sector’s call to establishing ferries linking Pingtung County to China’s Pingtan Island. The MAC failed to respond to overtures to restore direct flights and raised the
RSS