Several academics and industry representatives yesterday called on the government to open the wind turbine market to the private sector, which would create jobs in Taiwan and help state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) generate renewable energy more efficiently, but others said they doubt that wind power can replace nuclear power in the near future.
Taipower had set up a total of 450 wind turbines in Taiwan as of this month and aims to build 4,000 units by 2030, the Bureau of Energy said.
“The fact is that many local electronics manufacturers have skills in designing and producing wind turbines, so it should not be a problem to liberalize the market if most technological issues have been resolved,” motor maker Teco Electric and Machinery Co (東元) chairman Liu Chao-kai (劉兆凱) told a forum in Taipei.
Once the market is open, Taipower will be able to work with local firms to increase installation of wind turbines or to upgrade equipment more quickly, rather than spending time and resources looking for professional maintenance skills from foreign suppliers, Liu said.
Liu said that the government should also act more aggressively to implement energy policies, because clean energy currently accounts for only 0.1 percent of Taiwan’s total annual electricity consumption.
It is possible to create more than 200,000 jobs if the proportion of renewable energy increasese to 10 percent, he said.
Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research chairman Liang Chi-yuan (梁啟源) said it would be difficult for Taiwan to phase out the use of nuclear power.
Even if Taiwan operates up to 4,000 wind turbines generating 2 megawatt of electricity, it still requires more than 6,070 hectares of land for the installation of wind turbines, equivalent to about 60 percent of Taipei, Liang said.
In addition, Taiwan’s geographic conditions remain the biggest challenge for the installation of wind turbines, and Taipower will continue to need to operate coal-powered plants and generate back-up electricity due to wind power’s unstable supply of electricity, he said.
Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) president David Hong (洪德生) also said during the forum that nuclear power plants remain import to Taiwan in view of the nation’s high annual electricity consumption.
He also suggested Taipower to expand its smart grid, a digital net connecting households and indicating to electricity generators local electricity supply and demand, in the country to inform citizens how much of energy each has consumed.
In response, Jerry Ou (歐嘉瑞), head of the Bureau of Energy, said that Taipower had already built a smart grid that connects 20,000 households and now plans to expand the net to 100,000 households.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS