The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday jointly released a report to help Taiwan achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The report offers proposals and showcases innovative solutions in the pursuit of net zero power given that governments and companies in Europe and Taiwan share a common goal, it said.
The report highlights innovative renewable energy and circular economy solutions divided into four main sections covering energy policy, the supply side, electrical grid and the demand side.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan boasts some of the world’s best conditions for wind and solar energy, but the key missing ingredient to a successful energy transition is an enabling environment, the report said.
The installation of renewable energy capacity in Taiwan has fallen behind the government’s targets mainly due to local content requirements, regulatory red tape and difficulties in financing, it said.
The chamber recommends revising localization rules to encourage local supply chain competitiveness and enhance coordination of policy and implementation between government agencies at the central and local levels to expedite the development of all viable types of renewable energy.
The effort should start with a radical streamlining of the approval process, including establishing green zones for renewable development, simplified repowering rules to replace outdated turbines, and comprehensive planning for port and grid infrastructure to support future projects, it said.
The ECCT also suggests hastening the transition to electric mobility by removing regulatory bottlenecks that are slowing down the building of charging infrastructure and by offering financial incentives to consumers to switch to electric vehicles.
The report also addresses topics such as hydrogen, electric vehicles, energy storage, power grid upgrades and risk management, solar power, wind turbine blade recycling and floating offshore wind energy.
Developers will seek projects that offer the least risk and best chance of making a profit, ECCT said, adding that if developers can find better projects elsewhere, they might choose them over projects in Taiwan.
For example, sourcing components from Taiwan is more expensive than in other countries, it said earlier.
There is a limited number of suppliers for certain components, leading not only to higher costs, but also concerns about capacity constraints and overdependence on a few or sometimes only a single supplier of certain components, ECCT said yesterday.
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