The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday defended
its renewable energy policy roadmap after the Control Yuan issued corrective
measures on Friday.
The Control Yuan in a report pointed to several shortcomings
in the ministry’s renewable energy development plan, saying they could hamper
the nation’s long-term progress.
Critics have said that the plan was hastily put together to
meet President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policy goal of generating 20 percent of the nation’s
electricity from alternative energy sources by 2025.
The feed-in tariff (FIT) of NT$5.8498 per kilowatt-hour does
not take into account the falling levelized cost of electricity generated by
offshore wind farms, made possible by technological advances and economies of
scale, the Control Yuan said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津)
told a news conference in Taipei that the FIT is about NT$0.1 higher than the
UK’s NT$5.7246, albeit significantly lower than Japan’s NT$9.8316.
It is also NT$3.3 higher from the NT$2.5 that was determined
in an auction, he said, adding that the discrepancy was intentional and would
save the nation about NT$400 billion (US$12.95 billion) in wind power
purchases.
“Taiwan’s wind power FIT is within the average range of
prices seen abroad,” Shen said.
The plan adheres to the law and there are no compliance
issues as the Control Yuan has claimed, he added.
Regarding foreign offshore wind developers criticizing a
decision to cut the FIT by 12.7 percent, Shen said that the ministry would
continue to review supporting evidence presented by the firms, adding that a
public hearing would be held at the end of this month.
The ministry’s tight timeline requiring seven offshore wind
developers to complete 16 projects in seven years overlooks the challenges the
nation faces in developing a local offshore wind energy supply chain, the
Control Yuan said.
The challenges include the cultivation of talent, overcoming
steep learning curves and addressing project financing risks, it said.
The burden of the government’s green energy ambitions is
made heavier by the ministry’s decision to apply the FIT scheme to a majority
69.7 percent of the planned 5.5 gigawatts of wind power capacity, leaving only
30.3 percent capacity to auctions, the report said, urging the ministry to
improve its policy roadmap.
The selection and assessment committees overseeing the wind
projects are mostly occupied by government officials aiming to meet the
government’s 2025 energy goal and they have overlooked the aspects that
determine the success of wind projects, it said.
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