Taiwan is engaged in a major energy transition, the current government aiming to eliminate nuclear power on the island by 2025 and replace it with a large new energy sector, particularly solar and offshore wind. As a result, this is attracting significant investment interest. The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG) is not a renewable energy provider in the traditional sense, but rather provides specialized advice to capitals attempting to enter the new energy sector, accelerating the new energy transition in East Asia while assisting companies in choosing the right development strategy.
In 2016, when the new administration took office, only 4.82% of Taiwan's energy mix was made up of renewable energy. In 2020, the government decided to change the basic combination of fuels, meaning that by 2025, 20% of electricity would be provided by renewable energy sources, with coal accounting for only 30% and natural gas for 50%. A plan for the share of electricity sources in 2030, released at the end of 2022, further revised the proportion of green energy upwards to 30% and coal downwards to 20% by the Energy Directorate of the Ministry of the Economy.
The huge increase in the share of renewable energy has led energy academics, experts and industry players to believe that the probability of reaching the target is very low. In fact, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua confirmed on June 29, 2023 that the 2025 target of 20% renewable energy has been confirmed to be unattainable, and that the current renewable energy share is only expected to be reached by October 2026. It reflected that in the four years since the government's energy transition was promoted, the progress of renewable energy is obviously lagging behind, and the public is even more concerned about whether the plan for 2030 can be realized.
At the same time, Taiwan's radical cutbacks in nuclear power have created many risks in the process of energy transition. The pressure of power shortage has become the most concerned topic in Taiwan society. In addition, the imbalance between the northern and southern power grids, the pressure of electricity price increase due to the rise of international energy prices, and the safety issue due to the high proportion of gas have also been highlighted. Meanwhile, for the consideration of honoring election promises, the government has restricted electricity price increases for a long period of time, resulting in a cumulative loss of approximately NT$546 billion for Taipower (TPC) in the years 2022 and 2023. In reality, despite the huge power supply pressure and revenue loss on Taiwan's power grid, Taiwanese people are still troubled by frequent unexpected power outages and complain about rising electricity bills.
In short, Taiwan's new energy transformation goal provides huge development opportunities for enterprises, but at the same time, we need to pay attention to the social and policy risks in new energy construction. The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG) will continue to keep an eye on the latest news in Taiwan's new energy sector and provide professional consulting services to the industry. If you are interested, please follow us for more professional real-time analysis.
Company: The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG)
Contact Person: Laura Lee
Email: lauralee@gmail.com
Website: https://thinkrcg.com/
Telephone: +886939949909
City: Taipei, Taiwan