English
The 12 months since the 2021 Taiwan White Paper was published have been challenging for Taiwan’s energy sector. Two country-wide power outages in May 2021 – the first triggered by equipment failure at the Hsinta Power Plant and the second a week later by a spike in energy demand – raised further questions about the resiliency of Taiwan’s power network. These questions resurfaced in March 2022 when another malfunction at Hsinta triggered rolling blackouts, affecting over 5 million households and businesses. It should come as no surprise that in AmCham’s 2022 Business Climate Survey, energy supply issues were identified as the highest priority for government action, and members expressed particular concern about power supply sufficiency and Taiwan’s progress in developing renewable energy.
The major outages occurred at an early stage of Taiwan’s ambitious energy transition plans, a process that risks increasing grid instability as coal and nuclear baseload capacity are progressively reduced. The Committee was pleased that the December 2021 referendum cleared the way for development of CPC Taiwan Corp.’s much-needed third Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal. However, the addition of new offshore wind, solar, and gas facilities to the energy mix has been severely delayed, in part due to COVID- 19-related issues. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s electricity demand, fueled by brisk economic growth, is expected to grow by 2.5% annually until 2027, according to the Bureau of Energy (BOE). The Committee’s view is that rapid and robust action is required to address the intertwined issues of grid resiliency and supply/demand margin.
The Committee welcomes the intention to reorganize the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) as the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy and hopes that this restructuring will lead to greater high-level focus on energy matters, with the ministry acting as the single point of authority and accountability within the government for the energy sector. But such a reorganization is merely the start of addressing the many challenges ahead, and the Committee is clear that a “business as usual” approach will not be sufficient to meet Taiwan’s short- to medium-term energy needs.
Looking further ahead, the Committee welcomes the Taiwan government’s renewed commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and the publication of its roadmap to 2050. We also welcome President Tsai Ing-wen’s ambition to strengthen public and private cooperation in the energy sector as part of the four key goals for achieving the 2050 net-zero target.
The Committee recognizes that Taiwan faces unique challenges in achieving decarbonization of its power sector while maintaining reliable and affordable electricity supplies. We look forward to deepening our interactions with the BOE and other relevant government authorities to support them in the journey toward decarbonization. Many Committee members have world-leading expertise in the full range of technologies that are likely to play a part in achieving Taiwan’s 2050 goal, including carbon capture storage and use, battery storage, carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, further expansion of renewables, and pumped hydro storage.
This year’s paper includes forward-looking suggestions in four critical areas for Taiwan’s future energy needs: grid stability, regulatory barriers to renewable energy development, rapid expansion of LNG to power capacity, and decarbonization.
Suggestion 1: Build a resilient power grid to sustain Taiwan’s energy transition.
The Committee is committed to supporting Taiwan in maintaining reliable power supplies as it transitions to more sustainable electricity generation. Fundamental to this change is investing in a more resilient power grid to enable further development of renewable energy. To achieve this goal, the Committee suggests the following measures:
1.1 Accelerate grid infrastructure upgrades and promote load-balancing technologies with suitable incentives.
Such technologies include battery energy storage systems (BESS), the adoption of which can be incentivized through feed-in tariffs, and smart energy management systems, potential incentives for which include tax relief or build-operate-transfer (BOT) types of arrangements. The Committee proposes that Taiwan consider accelerating the adoption of hybrid renewable energy solutions that combine BESS with clean energy. In addition to alleviating the challenges of deploying intermittent renewable energy sources, BESS deployment can ease potential investor concerns regarding generation curtailment in the event of excess power beyond the corporate buyers’ actual consumption – an issue expected to arise in connection with the influx of offshore wind energy to the grid beyond 2026.
1.2 Establish a reserve capacity market and pricing mechanism.
The Committee believes Taiwan needs a long-term power development plan incorporating various stakeholders’ needs for energy as it moves toward net-zero. This plan would not only address grid stability but would also have a profound impact on the
corporate PPA market for green energy. Under the current regulations, Independent Power Producers (IPPs) selling renewable energy (>5MW) to corporate buyers need to provide “reserve capacity” to the Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower), which may be through the procurement of such capacity. However, there is no established market or pricing mechanism for reserve capacity in Taiwan. The lack of such a market and limited visibility of Taipower- maintained inputs to the reserve capacity calculation will increase the cost of clean energy and make it more difficult, especially for Taiwan’s SMEs, to access competitively priced green energy.
Suggestion 2: Remove regulatory barriers hindering Taiwan’s renewable energy development.
Despite inclusion of the issue in the last two White Papers, little progress has been made in streamlining the regulatory approval process for new energy projects. For example, it took on average six months for recent offshore wind energy projects to obtain an Electrical Enterprise License (EEL), a critical permit to trigger revenue streams. The Committee urges Taiwan to improve the efficiency of the review process, in particular by eliminating unnecessary processes like re-verifying third-party technical certifications. In addition to shortening the EEL permitting procedure, we urge the following policy directions to help expedite Taiwan’s development of offshore wind energy:
2.1 Adhere to international standards to enable Taiwan to become a regional center for renewable energy technology and services.
After many years of effort, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) has announced new offshore wind farm certification measures for Taiwan in three major areas: site survey and design, manufacturing and construction, and operations and maintenance. The Committee understands Taiwan’s ambition to develop local capacity in this new industry sector.
However, when globally applicable certification standards are already available, including DNV and EU certification measures, creating separate Taiwanese specification standards will increase market entry barriers and deter technology innovation. To prevent difficulties in acquiring permits due to diverse technical specification review procedures, the Committee urges BSMI to communicate extensively with experts, scholars, and industry to reconsider the necessity of introducing unproven technical specifications that would pose significant additional risks to the projects.
The Committee also urges the authorities to ensure that Taiwan’s regulations and policy directives on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles for finance and investment are fully aligned with relevant internationally accepted guidelines and standards. We welcome the recent efforts the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to draft a Taiwan Sustainability Taxonomy and encourage the FSC to expand the Taxonomy to cover activities in the ICT and energy industries.
2.2 Establish an integrated permitting process and a clear and transparent stakeholder management mechanism to maximize offshore wind energy development.
Currently, the permitting processes for offshore wind projects involve the Environment Protection Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and Ocean Conservation Administration. Consistent standards in line with international norms should be adopted during each permitting process instead of accepting ad hoc requests from review panel members, a practice that will only increase the burden of the government, financing agencies, and developers. The Committee suggests that the government establish an integrated permitting mechanism where one government agency and/or mechanism is responsible for all offshore-related permits. While settling fishery compensation claims is one of the regulatory requirements for offshore wind projects at the development phase, the Committee strongly suggests that the government introduce a clear, rapid, and transparent mechanism or formula for dispute resolution to prevent excessive and unreasonable claims from delaying offshore wind energy development.
2.3 Invest in advanced planning and construction of fundamental infrastructure and utilities for renewable energy industry growth.
The inadequacy of infrastructure for offshore wind project development is most apparent in the Port of Taichung. As construction on most projects takes place this year, insufficient dock spaces and bridge and road loading capacity for the transport of large and heavy components have become obvious and urgent issues that need to be addressed. To enable the offshore wind industry to maximize its role in Taiwan’s energy transition, the Committee urges the government to invest in critical supporting infrastructure, such as port facilities. Further details on this suggestion are addressed in the Infrastructure and Engineering section of the White Paper.
Suggestion 3: Expand natural gas usage to ensure a successful energy transition.
The Committee continues to believe that development of gas power in place of coal is an essential step toward ensuring rapid and substantial progress in cutting carbon emissions. Expanding the use of natural gas needs to be undertaken in parallel with the advancement of technologies for low or near zero-carbon power generation. As the government prepares for a low-carbon future, it is equally important to ensure a sufficient, affordable, and reliable energy supply, which is critical not only for Taiwan’s economy but also the world’s tech supply chain.
Given the time needed to build renewables and implement energy efficiency improvements, gas-to-power represents an efficient solution for emissions reduction and ensuring reliable power supply. Gas power plants can come online quickly, and their power output levels can be adjusted up or down to balance supply and demand as needed. This flexibility is critical to maintaining grid stability as more non-dispatchable wind and solar resources are deployed.
The Committee acknowledges and applauds the government’s efforts to increase the use of natural gas to 50% by 2025. However, the current LNG demand of the fleet of combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants is already close to exceeding the capacity of CPC’s existing LNG import terminals at Yung-An and Taichung. While CPC and Taipower are working on expanding and building their respective LNG import terminals, putting too much pressure on certain terminals might introduce fragility to the overall gas supply system. The Committee therefore recommends that the government expedite efforts to expand LNG and natural gas infrastructure and consider enabling larger LNG carriers to dock.
The Committee also urges the government to revisit its power development plan, particularly the development of IPPs. In recent years, the complexity of environmental issues has represented a major hurdle for the industry. We believe the government would benefit from reviewing the challenges of current market engagement and providing IPPs with a clearer and more transparent path to successful delivery. A clear roadmap could also allow and encourage international developers to invest in Taiwan’s energy market.
Suggestion 4: Accelerate the development of all decarbonization technologies to help achieve Taiwan’s 2050 net-zero emissions goal.
To enable Taiwan to meet its new 2050 net-zero emissions target while ensuring reliable and competitively priced energy, the Committee believes that deployment of decarbonization technologies such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and low-emission fuels should be accelerated. As a critical first step, the Committee suggests Taiwan put in place a supportive policy and regulatory/legal framework enabling these technologies to compete on a level playing field. This may include but is not limited to:
- Providing sustained, long-term government support to activate carbon-pricing mechanisms, and the research, development, and deployment of all decarbonization technologies.
- Expanding existing incentives, policies, and targets for renewable energy to other decarbonization technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and low-emission fuels.
The Committee believes that the deployment of such decarbonization technologies requires relevant stakeholders from industry, academia, government, and, most importantly, local communities, to jointly proceed in a coordinated and timely manner to address policy, regulatory, technical, commercial, and community issues. The Committee hopes to see a more active approach by the government in cultivating industry alliances and facilitating open dialogue among parties.
Chinese
自美國商會發佈 2021 年台灣白皮書的 12 個月以來，台灣的能源產業遭遇到諸多挑戰。去年 5 月發生兩次全國性的停電事件，第一起事件是由於興達電廠的設備故障所引發，第二起事件則是在第一起事件一周後因能源需求暴增所導致，使台灣電網韌性再度受到質疑。2022 年 3 月時，由於興達電廠再度故障造成連續停電，影響超過 5百萬戶的家庭和企業，使相關問題再度浮上檯面。不意外地，2022年美國商會發布的商業景氣調查顯示，能源供應議題為台灣政府必須優先處理的事項；本委員會成員對電力供應充足性和台灣發展再生能源的進度，表達高度關切。
上述停電事件發生在台灣在能源轉型中的初始階段，在逐步減少燃煤和核能發電基載容量的同時，造成電網不穩定性的各項風險隨之提高，因而引發重大停電事件。讓本委員會感到欣慰的是，2021 年 12 月舉辦的公投為台灣中油亟需的液化天然氣第三接收站之開發做好相關準備。然而，過去一年在開發新增離岸風電、太陽能和天然氣發電能量方面的進展，仍落後於原定計劃的時程，部分原因與COVID-19疫情相關。 此外，能源局資料顯示，因經濟成長前景樂觀，預計至2027年止，台灣電力需求年增率預計達2.5%。本委員會認為，政府需迅速採取有力的行動，以解決電網韌性和供需餘量間相互糾結的問題。
本委員會欣見台灣政府有意將經濟部改組為經濟及能源部，我們希冀此部會改組將對能源議題帶來更高度的關注，並作為政府內部主責能源產業相關議題的單一機關。但此等改組僅能作為解決未來諸多難關的開端。本委員會確信，若仍遵循「一切照舊」的方式，將不足以滿足台灣在中短期間內的能源需求。
展望未來之際，委員會歡迎台灣政府再次承諾於2050年之前實現碳中和的目標，並公佈至2050年的規劃藍圖。此外，本委員會也樂見蔡英文總統在能源領域強化公部門和私企業合作的雄心，並以之做為實現 2050 年淨零排放的四個關鍵目標之一。
本委員會體認到，在實現電力產業脫碳的同時，亦須維持可靠且可負擔得起的電力供應。我們期待深化與能源局和其他相關政府機構的互動，在支持如何邁向脫碳達標的進程中，許多委員會成員在全方位的各技術領域中擁有領先全球的專業知識，從而可能有助於實現台灣的2050年目標，其中包括碳捕捉的儲存和使用、電池儲能、如氫和氨等零碳燃料、再生能源的進一步擴展和抽水蓄能。
本今年能源委員會於白皮書中，就台灣未來能源需求至關重要的四個領域提出前瞻性建議，包含電網穩定性、再生能源發展的法規障礙、液化天然氣供電能量的迅速擴張與脫碳。
建議一：建設具備韌性的電網，支撐台灣能源轉型
本委員會致力於支持台灣於轉型到更永續性發電的過程中，維持可靠的電力供應。達成此目標的根本之道在投資於更具韌性的電網，以促成再生能源的進一步發展。為了實現此一目標，本委員會建議採取以下措施：
- 加速升級電網基礎設施，並透過適當的獎勵措施以推廣負載平衡技術。舉例來說，透過上網電價補貼（feed-in tariffs）來鼓勵電池儲能系統（Battery Energy Storage Systems, BESS）的設置，以及透過減稅或民間興建營運後轉移模式（BuildOperate-Transfer, BOT）等方式促進與推廣智慧能源管理系統。我們建議台灣考慮加速採用結合BESS與潔淨能源的混合型再生能源解決方案，除了可因應調度間歇性再生能源帶來的挑戰，BESS的部署亦可降低投資人對於在2026年之後隨著大量離岸風電併入電網，發電量可能超出企業買家實際消耗量的疑慮。
- 建立備用容量與定價機制。委員會認為，隨著台灣向淨零碳排目標邁進，台灣需要一個長期能源開發計劃，將各個利害關係人的能源需求納入考量。這不僅解決電網穩定性的問題，以及企業購電合約市場所產生的深遠影響。根據現行法規，向企業買家出售再生能源（>5MW）的民營獨立電廠需要向台電提供或採購「備用容量」。然而，台灣目前並無成熟的市場，也欠缺備用容量的定價機制。缺乏備用容量市場，加上對台電掌握的備用容量計算參數的能見度不足，將增加取得潔淨能源的成本，特別是台灣中小企業將更難獲得具有競爭力的價格的綠色能源。
建議二：修正阻礙台灣再生能源發展的法規障礙
儘管過去兩年的台灣美國商會白皮書中皆有所著墨，至今本委員會尚未見到政府對於新能源計畫執照精簡審核程序方面有所改善與進展。例如，根據最新的離岸風電專案的經驗可知，取得電業執照平均仍需要長達六個月的時間，而電業執照為啟動離岸風場營收的關鍵許可證。 本委員會敦促政府增加審核效率，尤其是刪減不必要的程序，例如再次確認第三方出具之技術驗證之要求。除了縮短電業執照程序外，今年我們提出下列尚有改進空間的政策，以加速台灣離岸風電發展：
2.1 遵守國際標準，使台灣成為再生能源技術和服務的區域中心
歷經多年的努力，經濟部標準檢驗局（下稱：「標檢局」）已公布就離岸風場認證基準的三個主要領域，包含現場勘測設計、製造和建設與營運和維護之規範。委員會理解台灣有意在此新興產業領域中發展出本土能力的雄心。
然而，當全球適用的認證標準（包括DNV和歐盟認證基準）已臻完備時，建立台灣獨有的規範標準將提高進入市場的門檻，亦有礙技術的創新。為防止因技術規範審查程序繁複而導致難以取得許可證，委員會建議標檢局應更加廣泛地與國內外的專家、學者與產業界進行溝通後，再行考慮是否提出此一未經實證、且可能導致台灣各個離岸風電計畫增加額外負擔與風險之法規。就金融與投資產業所需的環境、社會和治理（ESG）原則，本委員會呼籲主管機關制定與國際公認準則和標準一致的法規和政策方針。在此前提下，我們樂見金融監督管理委員會（下稱：「金管會」）近期投入起草台灣版之永續分類法，並鼓勵金管會擴大該分類法，以涵蓋資通訊科技和能源產業的活動。
2.2 建立一套整合性的許可審查程序及明確與透明的利害關係人管理機制，極大化離岸風電之發展
目前台灣離岸風電專案許可核發程序涉及環境保護署、內政部及海洋保育署。在每一項許可核發過程中，應採行和國際規範一致的標準，而非接受審查委員於個案中提出的要求，此舉徒增政府、金融機構及開發單位三方的負擔。本委員會建議政府建立一套整合性的許可核發機制，亦即由一個政府機關及或一套機制主責所有與離岸風電事務相關的許可核發事宜。
漁業權補償即是離岸風電專案開發過程中受政府監管的要求之一，然本委員會強烈建議政府應制定一套明確、快速且透明的爭議解決機制或公式，以避免因過份和不合理的求償，從而影響離岸風電專案開發時程。
2.3 預先規劃及建設基礎與公共設施，以利再生能源產業持續成長
離岸風電開發所需基礎建設不足之情形以台中港為最明顯。當多數離岸風電專案於今年陸續進入施工階段期時，台中港碼頭空間不足、大型及重型零件運輸道路與橋樑承載能力不敷使用等狀況逐漸顯現，急須儘速處理。為使離岸風電產業在台灣能源轉型過程中發揮最大效用，委員會力促政府投資興建港口設施等重要基礎建設。更多有關本建議的細節，請參見本白皮書中基礎設施和工程委員會段落。
建議三：擴大天然氣的使用，以確保成功實現能源轉型
本委員會仍然認為發展天然氣發電以取代燃煤發電是一個重要的步驟，旨在以之確保在減少碳排放方面得以取得快速且實質性的進展。擴大天然氣發電亦為持續發展低碳或零碳發電所需技術之有必要同步進行的步驟。在政府為低碳未來做準備的同時，確保充足、可負擔且可靠的能源供應同樣關鍵，且其對於台灣經濟以及全球科技供應鏈皆至關重要。
有鑑於逐步增加新的再生能源和改善能源效率皆需相當時日，燃氣發電可為減少排放和確保可靠電力供應提供有效的解決方案。燃氣發電廠可以快速的上線發電、調整輸出電平，並根據需要將輸出電平調整至極低的水準以平衡供需。此外， 隨著不可調度的風能和太陽能資源的部署越來越多時，此類靈活度對於維持電網穩定性尤為重要。
本委員會感謝並讚賞台灣政府將天然氣使用量至2025年提高到50%所做的努力。然而，現行複循環燃氣渦輪（Combined Cycle Gas Turbine, CCGT）電廠機組的液化天然氣需求幾乎已經超過了中油集團現有在永安和台中液化天然氣接收站的容量。儘管中油和台電正在努力擴大和建設各自的液化天然氣接收站，但某些接受站因承受太大壓力而導致整個供氣系統變得脆弱的風險依然存在。因此，本委員會建議台灣政府應盡速擴大建設液化天然氣和天然氣基礎設施，並考量如何讓更大型的液化天然氣運輸船得以進港停靠。
此外，本委員會也敦促政府重新審視其電力發展計劃，特別是民營獨立電廠的發展。近年來，環境問題的複雜性已成為該產業需要克服的主要障礙。我們相信台灣政府將受益於檢視當前市場參與的難點，並開通一條更透明且更明確的途徑，使民營獨立電廠得以成功供電。若當前能有一條更加清晰可見的道路，將可鼓勵國際開發商來台投資能源市場。
建議四：加快發展脫碳技術，俾利台灣實踐2050年淨零排放目標
為了使台灣實踐剛發布的2050年淨零排放目標，同時確保可靠且價格具競爭力的能源供應，委員會認為應加速佈局碳捕獲和儲存、氫能及低排放燃料等脫碳技術。作為關鍵起手式，委員會建議台灣應制定支持性政策和監管及法律架構，以便該等技術能夠在公平的環境中相互競爭，其包括但不限於下列各項：
- 政府持續且長期支持以建立碳定價機制，以及脫碳技術的研究、開發和部署；
- 擴大現行再生能源的激勵措施、政策和目標至其他的脫碳技術，例如碳捕獲和儲存、氫能和低排放燃料。
本委員會認為，脫碳技術的部署需要包含產官學界的利害關係人，以及最重要的在地社區的共同參與，各方以相互協調和及時的方式，解決政策面、監管面、技術面、商業面和社區面的多元挑戰。本委員會希冀能看到台灣政府採取更積極的作為，建立產業聯盟並促進各方進行公開對話。
