With 31 big Taiwanese companies joining the RE100 initiative, the demand for non-nuclear renewable energy is rapidly increasing, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said at a virtual forum on Tuesday.
RE100 is a global initiative where businesses commit to use 100 percent renewable energy.
The 31 companies, including major chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), have a combined revenue of about NT$5.8 trillion (US$178.8 billion), Wang said in her speech about renewable energy development in Taiwan.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
“Renewable energy, as defined by RE100, does not include nuclear power,” she said.
Taiwan is estimated to generate about 35.6 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy this year, while enterprise demand, based on a ministry survey, is about 22.1 billion kilowatt-hours, which shows that the supply of renewable energy is sufficient to meet demand, she said.
Rebutting criticism of the government’s policy of zero nuclear power by 2025, Wang said that diversifying the sources of energy by increasing non-nuclear renewable energy should not be seen as a cause of possible future power shortages.
The minister’s remarks came amid demands by some companies or groups that the lifespan of the Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) be extended.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), chairman of contract electronics maker Pegatron Corp (和碩), said in an interview on Monday that non-nuclear renewable energy would not be sufficient for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
By importing a new kind of nuclear power plant designed by Finland called OL3 and extending the service of the Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants, Taiwan could immediately raise its non-carbon-emitting power to about 50 percent of its energy mix from the current 16 percent, he said.
Tung’s comments have raised particular attention as he is vice chairman of the New Frontier Foundation, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-affiliated think tank.
Since taking office, the DPP government has pushed a policy to phase out all existing nuclear power plants in Taiwan by next year.
Taiwan has four nuclear power plants, though the fourth has never been operational. There are a total of six reactors in the first three nuclear power plants.
Under the current administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Taiwan decommissioned two of its three nuclear power plants, and two reactors at the still operational Ma-anshan nuclear power plant are expected to be shut down in July this year and May next year.
However, due to recent energy price increases, opposition parties have proposed amending the law to extend the service of the Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants or even restart construction of the Lungmen nuclear power plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
Pan Chun-jung (潘俊榮), new chairman of the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工業總會), yesterday called on the incoming government to rethink national energy policy, proposing a revival of nuclear power.
There are 443 nuclear plants in operation around the world, with about 50-60 reactors under construction and over 100 planned, Pan said at a meeting of the CNFI board of directors and supervisors, during which president-elect William Lai (賴清德) presented him with a certificate confirming his election as chairman.
France, Japan and South Korea all use nuclear power and the Group of Seven (G7) nations recognized nuclear as a zero-emission clean and low-cost energy source in their joint communique issued last week following a two-day ministerial meeting, Pan said.
Lai, who will be inaugurated on May 20, did not directly respond to questions from the media about extending the service of nuclear power plants in Taiwan proposed by industry leaders including Tung.
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