The Cabinet yesterday approved draft amendments to the Electricity Act (電業法) to boost green power trading by regulating on-grid energy storage and demand response services.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference that 38 of the more than 80 domestic renewable energy vendors have already begun to sell their products.
Once the bill is passed by the legislature, it would facilitate the sale of residual electricity, with prices decided by the market, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement that substantial funding is required to construct power and grid infrastructure, as the power dispatching system is facing challenges from renewable energy and extreme weather, while the government is striving to stabilize power supply and achieve its goal of net zero transition.
Under such circumstances, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) is expected to be maintained as a vertically integrated electric utility that combines resources related to power generation, dispatch, distribution and sales, it said.
The current act enables renewable energy vendors to sell electricity only to users, while emerging power resources such as energy storage and demand response measures are not explicitly legalized, the ministry said.
Given that renewable energy products and new power resources continue to enter the market, the domestic power trading platform must be reviewed and improved, it said.
Therefore, the act would be amended in line with the practical developments of the electricity market to introduce necessary regulations and address the aforementioned problems, the ministry said, adding that the amendments aim to boost green power trading on the premise of stable power supply.
To deal with transitions in the electric power structure and the market, as well as enable efficient management and open competition, the amendments would go in four directions, it said.
First, Taipower would keep the current operating model without divestiture to synergize resources via its power grid, increasing investment efficiency and maintaining stable power supply.
Second, renewable energy vendors would be allowed to sell energy to each other to increase their operational flexibility.
Third, on-grid energy storage and demand response services would be stipulated to reduce the compliance risk for vendors and include more potential power resources.
Last, the regulatory mechanism for the power trading platform would be strengthened to ensure its impartiality, and the market’s openness and transparency, the ministry said, adding that the platform might develop into an independent trading entity depending on market developments.
The revision of the act would help to build a friendly environment for domestic green power development, as well as enhance the power sector’s operational efficiency, the power grid’s resilience, and users’ rights and benefits, it said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS