Taiwan Should Consolidate Its Renewable Energy Development Regulations

This is a translation from the Chinese original “再生能源發展條例修正公聽會-會什麼？” originally published in SOSReader. Translation by Tim Smith.

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A consortium of more than one hundred entrepreneurs, scholars and cross-ministerial officials were in attendance at a public hearing in February for the revision of renewable energy rules. Industries and firms whose renewable energy focus includes thermal, solar, tidal, ocean wave, biomass, and energy storage had sent representatives to present and contribute their knowledge.

What could be gathered from this hearing is that the challenges these industries face are very similar. They wish that the government could establish a one-stop-shop for their needs, rather than the current situation where a problem arises and the Council of Agriculture, the Bureau of Energy, the EPA, and local governments pass the problem around like a hot potato no one takes responsibility to find a solution.

Industry representatives in attendance at the public hearings also said repeatedly that they wished energy management bodies could have an overall plan for local land use regulators to quickly process energy-related permit applications. Regardless of whether permits are granted or rejected, energy firms want a quick response so they can better manage their resources and risks. Only by applying regulations consistently and unambiguously can the industry reduce operational risk.

Thermal energy firms specifically expressed that possible sites for deploying renewable energy facilities, especially with regards to thermal energy, should be universally surveyed and made available to the public.

In the 1970’s, the United States assisted Taiwan with thermal prospecting, but this data was only provided to Taiwan’s China Petroleum Company and the Industrial Technology Research Institute. In the past, this data was seen as classified information that was only available to state-owned enterprises; following the lifting of martial law, this informational should also be declassified.  Land databases or other renewable energy databases must all be inventoried, allowing private firms to implement their work more effectively.

The Council of Agriculture has announced areas in the counties of Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, and Pingtung that are unfit for farming but is allowed renewal energy facilities over the past two years.The announcements cover 38 areas with a total of 2,383 hectares of land.

In these areas, infrastructure construction is of the utmost importance. Electric installations such as power lines, power transformers and the electric grid are not adequate at the present moment. At the public hearing, Legislator Su Chih-fen of Yunlin County put great emphasis on responding to this particular problem. Apart from this issue, activating the use of local land, as well as clarifying which lands are suitable for use with solar energy, tidal energy, or other dissimilar green energy sources was a very important item on the agenda. Hearing attendants discussed that some areas can be used simultaneously for more than just one particular energy source. Each opinion and idea underwent thorough expression and discussion.

Taiwan is about to face a daunting challenge of transforming its energy sources. In the next seven or eight years, this will expand to include transportation, energy production, energy storage, and energy use behaviors. Each one of these areas will see massive changes. We will see big transitions, much like in the 1920’s when the globe entered the “era of the automobile.” Each one of these issues is very close to all of us. We have a right to be involved, and we should definitely exercise that right.