A small-scale hydrogen power plant in Taichung, the first of its kind in Taiwan initiated by a local government, began operating on Wednesday.
The Shishuike River Small Hydropower Plant has an installed capacity of 185 kilowatt-hours (kWh), meaning it can sell about 1,000 renewable esnergy certificates a year, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said during the opening ceremony for the plant.
Each certificate represents 1,000kWh of green power generated from renewable sources and can reduce carbon emissions by about 0.5 tonnes.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
The green energy generated by the plant and the renewable energy certificates are to be sold to Delta Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Electronics, Lu said.
The core services of Delta Energy include assisting businesses in procuring green energy and achieving zero carbon goals, the company said.
BOT MODEL
Lu said the project was launched based on the build, operate and transfer (BOT) public-private partnership model, under which the city signed a 20-year cooperation contract with partner companies investing in the building of the plant, which would be transferred to the city government after 20 years of operation.
She also touted the city government’s efforts to promote renewable energy, saying that all government offices and schools in Taichung are required to have solar panel installations on their rooftops.
More than 85 percent of schools in the city have installed solar panels, she added.
The city’s renewable power generation reaches 2.56 billion kilowatt-hours every year, which is equivalent to one-third of the power generated by the Taichung Thermal Power Plant, Lu said.
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) said that the Taichung City Government’s experiences in combating climate change can be used as a reference by other local governments.
A transition to renewable energy is essential to mitigating climate change, Peng said, adding that while small-sized hydropower plants can generally produce only small amounts of power, they can generate great benefits cumulatively.
Peng added that he hoped the first local government-initiated small hydropower project would attract more to emulate it.
As for renewable energy certificates, Peng said that after companies purchase green electricity certificates, they can be used to offset carbon fees in the future, as Taiwan has yet to set a carbon fee rate.
To cope with future carbon tariffs, companies would work hard to achieve net zero, creating a promising market for green certificates, he said.
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