More than 13,000 people have signed up for this year’s “green” power purchase program launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, exceeding the goal of 10,000, the ministry said on Saturday.
As of Thursday, a total of 13,251 institutional and individual customers had signed up for the program, surpassing the more than 7,000 who did so last year, when the goal was 4,000 subscriptions.
State-owned refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) has been the largest contributor to the program so far this year, pledging to purchase 8 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of “green” energy, the ministry said.
Next in line are Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) at 6 million kWh, and integrated circuit packaging and testing firm Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光) at 4.5 million kWh, it said.
In July 2014, the ministry launched the program to encourage companies and individuals to purchase “green” power in a bid to promote renewable energy and environmental protection.
Under the program, companies or individuals agree to purchase a certain amount of electricity generated by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) using renewable sources at a premium of NT$1.06 per kWh over regular electricity prices.
The amount of “green” energy they subscribe to is then deducted from the power they use over the course of the year.
Proceeds from the program go to a renewable energy fund to support renewable energy applications, such as feed-in tariff subsidies.
The ministry said 2,994 institutions and 10,257 individuals have signed up for almost 86 million kWh of “green” power so far this year, well below the 1.31 billion kWh available.
Twenty-four institutional buyers have agreed to purchase more than 1 million kWh each, it said.
They include Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大, 3.36 million kWh), I-Mei Foods Co (義美食品, 3 million kWh), Taiwan’s largest steelmaker, China Steel Corp (中鋼, 3 million kWh), and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維, 3 million kWh), the ministry said.
Of the individual buyers who agreed to be identified, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) was the largest buyer, subscribing to 10,000kWh, the ministry said.
Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,台積電), which has traditionally been the program’s biggest participant, has yet to sign up this year.
Last year, TSMC bought 200 million kWh, after purchasing 100 million kWh in 2015.
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