As demand from the artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries accelerates, reliable power supply and grid stability are critical to maintaining Taiwan’s position in global supply chains, supporting energy resilience, and achieving Taiwan’s net-zero targets. The Committee recommends that the government establish a clear, long-term energy policy with defined implementation measures to provide stakeholders, including energy producers and off-takers, with predictable conditions to plan operations and mitigate risks from supply disruptions and price volatility.

The Committee below outlines four policy priorities: strengthening governance through Presidential Office oversight and a unified national energy and marine spatial planning framework; accelerating deployment of scalable, domestically controlled renewable energy; advancing commercial deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) while integrating low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia into thermal power generation; and expanding corporate access to renewable energy through transparent Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) pricing mechanisms and more flexible Taiwan Renewable Energy Certificate (T-REC) settlement rules.

Suggestion 1: Elevate grid resilience to a national security standard to close Taiwan’s energy gap and safeguard semiconductor competitiveness.

1.1   Raise energy resilience and grid security to the level of national security. Taiwan’s reliance on imported fuels exposes it to geopolitical disruptions and price volatility, as reflected in recent instability in global oil and gas markets. These risks directly affect supply stability, electricity costs, and industrial continuity.

Current institutional arrangements are not equipped to manage the scale and coordination required for increasing demand growth. Fragmented authority and limited cross-ministerial coordination further constrain policy coordination and implementation.

Energy resilience and grid security issues should be elevated to the Presidential Office’s National Climate Change Committee, and an Executive Yuan-level task force should be established to take responsibility for implementation with clear accountability, measurable milestones, and regular reporting.

We suggest the following policy roadmap:

• • Short-term: Set a five-year national grid resilience target under the Presidential Office’s National Climate Change Committee, aligned with national security requirements.
  • Medium-term (coordination): Create a formal Executive Yuan-level coordination framework with defined ministerial responsibilities, KPIs, and a regular oversight schedule.
  • Medium- to long-term (institutional reform): Establish a Ministry of Energy or equivalent agency to take overall authority.

1.2   Strengthen offshore wind and large-scale ground-mounted solar deployment to expand energy supply and reduce import dependence. Distributed solar photovoltaics (PV) paired with energy storage enables rapid deployment and flexible supply, while offshore wind provides large-scale, relatively stable capacity.

The Committee recommends that the government define national renewable energy capacity targets and development pathways. For large-scale ground-mounted solar PV, this includes specifying pathways such as agri-PV, fishery-solar, and land-use conversion mechanisms.

Building on the five-year renewable energy and grid resilience targets proposed by the Presidential Office’s National Climate Change Committee, we recommend publishing annual targets for the next five years covering solar PV, offshore wind, energy storage, and grid enhancement, with annual capacity targets, project schedules, and responsible agencies.

The government should also establish a regular cross-ministerial review process to identify and resolve deployment barriers, with defined milestones and progress tracking. We further urge establishing clear transition mechanisms for regulatory changes, including advance notice, public explanation, and prospective implementation, with transitional arrangements where necessary to avoid affecting projects already under development and to support timely expansion of energy supply.

1.3   Provide top-down energy land-use, national energy spatial and marine spatial planning. Land-based and marine development both involve competing uses and overlapping authorities. Inconsistent local standards, procedural uncertainty, and repeated cross-agency reviews require developers to pursue approvals case by case, reducing predictability and slowing deployment such as solar PV and offshore wind.

Following the establishment of a five-year grid resilience target, the Executive Yuan should conduct a top-down review of suitable development areas, restricted zones, and protected agricultural land. It should then establish national energy and marine spatial planning frameworks with clear zoning, defined approval timelines, and consistent review standards.

1.3.1        Establish Executive Yuan-level coordination for energy spatial planning. The government should designate an energy authority, such as the Energy Administration, as the competent authority for energy facility land-use policy. This authority should coordinate planning for large-scale ground-mounted solar PV, substations and switching stations, transmission corridors, and energy storage hubs. These facilities should be designated as national critical energy infrastructure and integrated with grid layout and connection planning to align siting with available capacity.

A total capacity control and spatial allocation model should be adopted, with the central government determining total developable capacity and spatial allocation of renewable energy based on national targets and grid capacity under the Enhancing Power Grid Resilience Construction Plan. Local governments should incorporate these allocations into spatial and urban planning to reserve and manage suitable areas.

A transparent allocation mechanism should replace case-by-case approvals, such as announced capacity quotas, project tenders, or auctions. We recommend defining non-negotiable protection boundaries, including prime agricultural land required for food security, important agricultural production zones, and environmentally sensitive conservation areas. Within these boundaries, authorities should apply rules-based management rather than blanket restrictions. Clear siting criteria, review pathways, and standardized timelines should apply according to project type and environmental risk. Existing regulations governing agricultural land use and permitted facilities should be reviewed and adjusted to balance agricultural protection with renewable energy deployment and accelerate project delivery.

1.3.2        Establish a national marine spatial planning (MSP) system to address fragmented ocean governance. Competing uses, including offshore wind, fisheries, shipping, environmental conservation, military zones, and submarine cable corridors, create coordination costs, project delays, and investment uncertainty.

We urge the Executive Yuan to designate a lead coordinating authority and a single government window. For example, under the coordination of the National Development Council (NDC), relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ocean Affairs Council, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of National Defense, and Ministry of Transportation and Communications, should complete a national marine spatial planning zoning framework within a defined timeline and with at least a 10-year planning horizon.

The MSP framework should integrate key spatial uses, including navigation routes, fisheries, environmental conservation areas, military zones, submarine cable corridors, and offshore wind development areas. The plan should also designate development, conditional, restricted, and prohibited zones, with clear spatial-use rules.

We further recommend that a standardized public geographic information system platform disclose environmentally sensitive area maps, regulatory constraints, baseline survey data, feasibility assessment requirements, and update mechanisms. The MSP would function as the baseline framework for site selection, environmental impact assessment, permitting, and cross-ministerial coordination.

1.3.3        Strengthen local government incentives and performance indicators for renewable energy deployment. We recommend that the central government establish performance indicators and incentive mechanisms to align local governments with renewable energy deployment targets. Performance evaluations should incorporate metrics such as deployment capacity, grid infrastructure coordination, and energy transition outcomes. Fiscal subsidies, industrial development resources, and regional infrastructure programs should also be linked to these indicators to incentivize local government participation and alignment with national energy objectives.

Suggestion 2: Accelerate decarbonization through carbon capture and low-carbon fuel technologies.

The Committee notes the inclusion of CCUS and the hydrogen-ammonia supply chain in the Executive Yuan’s 20 flagship carbon reduction projects approved in October 2025, as well as the release of draft regulations to manage carbon capture and storage (CCS) in December 2025.

To meet the MOEA’s target of reducing the power sector carbon emission factor by about 50% by 2035 relative to 2023 levels, the Committee calls on the government to accelerate commercial deployment of CCUS to achieve annual storage capacity of six million metric tons by 2035, while advancing the development of low-carbon fuels.

2.1   Enable CCS commercialization. CCS is a proven solution for reducing emissions from hard-to-abate sectors, particularly the power sector, a major source of Taiwan’s emissions. Taiwan is well positioned to deploy CCS at scale given its suitable geological conditions for storage. Accelerating commercial-scale CCS deployment is necessary to support the 2050 net-zero target.

To advance CCS, the Committee recommends:

• • Strengthening the regulatory framework. The Ministry of Environment MOENV should finalize CCS regulations in 2026 and address key issues raised by project developers, including extending storage permit duration beyond the current 10-year limit and defining a clear timeframe for post-closure monitoring instead of a minimum 20-year requirement.
  • Developing incentive mechanisms. Jurisdictions such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Malaysia use tax credits, Contracts for Difference, investment allowances, and project-based subsidies to reduce early-stage risk and attract private investment. The Committee recommends introducing a phased incentive framework by the end of 2026, aligned with the CCUS Flagship Project, with identified funding sources (e.g., the Greenhouse Gas Management Fund) and cross-agency coordination to ensure implementation.
  • Establishing certification for CCS-enabled low- carbon electricity. The government should establish an energy attribute certificate mechanism for electricity generated from CCS-equipped thermal power plants. Existing standards include PAS 247, the standard of Carbon-Abated Electricity developer by Taiwan-U.S. Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Association, and the CCS-specific energy attribute certificate standard developed by NorthBridge Group and supported by industry stakeholders. These frameworks can be applied in corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs), enabling verification of low-carbon electricity and improving project bankability. We urge adopting a certification framework to support CPPAs, enabling off-takers to access carbon fee reductions while meeting decarbonization targets.

2.2   Deploy hydrogen and ammonia in thermal power generation to accelerate decarbonization. Under the hydrogen and ammonia power generation technologies outlined in the 20 flagship projects, the government targets carbon reductions of 4.4 million metric tons through gas-hydrogen substitution and 0.77 million metric tons through coal-ammonia substitution by 2030. However, these targets remain unchanged for 2031-2035, with no clear pathway for further scale-up.

2.2.1        Designate a public-private communication platform for hydrogen and ammonia. While the MOEA has established an inter-ministerial hydrogen promotion taskforce, the government should designate an industry-led entity as the platform, such as the SEMI Green Energy and Sustainability Alliance (GESA) Hydrogen Industry Steering Committee, to facilitate communication between the public and private sectors and support the development of regulatory frameworks.

2.2.2        Elevate hydrogen and ammonia substitution targets in demonstration programs. Coal-fired power plants provide backup capacity during supply disruptions but contribute to higher emissions. A 20% ammonia substitution rate in coal-fired generation has been shown to reduce carbon and sulfur oxide emissions without increasing nitrogen oxides. The government should set ammonia substitution demonstration program with a 20% target by 2030 and establish progressively higher targets for 2031-2035 to support emissions reduction and energy diversification.

2.2.3        Recognize ammonia as a statutory energy source via administrative order. The NDC has affirmed the “ammonia first” strategy under the 20 flagship projects. Hydrogen was designated as an energy source under the Energy Administration Act in 2023, but  green hydrogen has not yet been classified as renewable energy under the Renewable Energy Development Act. The MOEA should issue an administrative order in 2026 to designate ammonia as a statutory energy source under the Energy Administration Act and classify green ammonia as renewable energy in the next amendment to the Renewable Energy Development Act, while tracking developing international trends to set domestic standards for low-carbon ammonia, including both green and blue ammonia.

Suggestion 3: Strengthen energy security and system resilience through stable power supply, market reform, and transparent long-term planning.

Rising electricity demand from industrial transformation, digitalization, and decarbonization requires a stable clean energy supply. We recommend strengthening market integrity and regulatory independence to advance electricity market liberalization and ensure neutral and efficient integration of power users.

3.1   Improve the fairness, transparency, and resilience of the power market. A transparent market design should guide participation, build investor confidence, and align stakeholder expectations. Following the 2025 amendment to the Electricity Act, which allows the Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) to maintain its current business model, the relevant authorities should enforce transparent market mechanisms, including strict implementation of accounting unbundling within Taipower or legal unbundling, and establish an independent regulatory authority to ensure impartial oversight.

The government should regularly publish a clear roadmap for electricity market development and liberalization, including green energy and energy storage, and ensure consistent policy communication to avoid rolling adjustments that reduce predictability and increase investment risk.

The government should also reassess the “20-30-50” (20% renewables, 30% coal, 50% liquefied natural gas) energy roadmap with a focus on energy security and resilience. Given Taiwan’s reliance on imported energy, the authorities should limit concentration in any single energy source and promote a diversified power mix to reduce systemic and geopolitical risk.

3.2   Fully liberalize the electricity market by expanding beyond renewables-only transactions to include wholesale, spot, and balancing markets aligned with distinct operational timeframes. Relevant authorities should expand the T-REC system to recognize renewable energy stored and discharged by energy storage systems (ESS), support renewable-ESS integration, and address the surplus and mismatch issues in the current mechanism. Establishing a flexible ancillary services market would also improve system efficiency and optimize resource use.

3.3   Adopt technology-neutral policy for high-consumption industrial facilities. Governments across the Asia-Pacific are offering incentives to attract AI infrastructure investment, while Taiwan applies restrictions that specifically target data centers, creating a risk of perceived discriminatory treatment and reduced competitiveness. The authorities should avoid designating emerging technologies as distinct categories subject to additional restrictions, as such policies risk distorting competition, limiting investment, and undermining Taiwan’s position as a destination for digital infrastructure.

We urge the government to ensure transparency and provide at least six months’ notice before introducing policies affecting high-consumption or high-density sectors to allow for industry consultation and adjustment. The government should also apply technology-neutral regulation and avoid differential pricing or stricter requirements for data centers relative to other industries with similar characteristics.

Suggestion 4: Enhance electricity market design and corporate renewable energy procurement mechanisms.

The Committee recommends that relevant authorities expand renewable energy supply and access, improve the transparency and predictability of PPA surcharges, enhance T-REC flexibility, and ensure that electricity pricing remains industry-neutral and cost-reflective. A phased approach should address short-term price stability, medium-term diversification of energy sources, and long-term infrastructure development, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and decentralized grids, to support semiconductor and AI demand.

4.1   Expand access to green tariff mechanisms. The Committee recommends providing a broader range of renewable energy procurement options beyond bilateral PPAs, which are often too long-term and complex for medium-sized users. Taipower’s small-package renewable energy auctions and RE30 program offer standardized short-term options, but current volumes are insufficient to meet growing demand from commercial users with expanding digital infrastructure needs. Taipower should increase program capacity to serve a wider range of buyers across the global supply chain.

4.2   Improve the transparency and predictability of PPA surcharges. The total cost of renewable energy in Taiwan includes regulated cost components such as wheeling fees (fees levied for transmitting power to consumption points through the grid) and reserve capacity charges. While PPAs are typically long-term, without a cap wheeling fees can change annually, and the reserve capacity market lacks reliable price signals for forecasting costs and supply. This uncertainty creates barriers for corporate renewable energy procurement. We recommend publishing clear, long-term guidance on these cost components and disclosing calculation methodologies.

4.3   Minimize surplus energy and provide T-REC settlement flexibility. Under take-or-pay PPA structures, companies pay for surplus energy they cannot consume during off-peak periods or when renewable generation exceeds demand. The government’s green electricity market flexible allocation pilot program addresses this issue. However, the 15-minute matching requirement is too restrictive to resolve the mismatch. The current design also limits buyers’ ability to increase their share of renewable energy. Expanding T-REC settlement flexibility by broadening time-matching requirements would allow surplus renewable energy to be offset across time-of-use periods and billing cycles.

4.4   Transition from a feed-in tariff (FIT) to a feed-in premium (FIP) system. Taiwan is one of the few APAC markets with a FIT system, which sets a high price floor for corporate PPAs. We urge the government to phase out fixed FITs and transition to an FIP model that maintains support while enabling price competition and lowering long-term costs. This approach aligns with international practice and supports more cost-competitive renewable energy supply for corporate off-takers.

4.5   Stabilize electricity pricing and establish a strategic roadmap to ensure energy security. While rates stabilized in 2025 following earlier adjustments, Taipower should implement cost-recovery mechanisms tied to actual generation costs. As of January 2026, the average cost of electricity was NT$3.78/kWh, while industrial rates were NT$4.27/kWh. The government should ensure equitable pricing by adopting technology-neutral regulations and removing differential rate adjustments for high-consumption facilities.

 To further strengthen Taiwan’s energy security, the Committee recommends the following measures:

• • Short-term: Maintain measures to ensure uninterrupted energy supply and mitigate volatility in energy and electricity prices, with a focus on sustaining price stability to support public welfare and industrial competitiveness.
  • Medium-term: Diversify energy sources and increase energy self-sufficiency to reduce exposure to geopolitical risks.
  • Long-term: Accelerate development of critical energy infrastructure, including LNG receiving terminals, decentralized grids, and power plants, and address renewable energy supply gaps to meet rising demand from AI and semiconductor sectors.

Suggestion 5: Improve the operational environment for renewable energy developers.

Project delivery continues to face unnecessary constraints. We recommend that the government improve regulatory clarity, strengthen cross-agency coordination, and enhance supply chain stability to support timely project execution, maintain investor confidence, and ensure renewable energy can meet rising electricity demand.

5.1   Accelerate identification and release of offshore wind development areas. As nearshore shallow-water sites are largely exhausted and remaining areas face administrative delays, future development will depend on access to more distant offshore zones. We recommend expediting the identification and public release of suitable offshore areas through cross-ministerial coordination. Early disclosure is necessary to sustain the project pipeline, provide visibility to off-takers and the supply chain, and enable developers to conduct feasibility assessments, supporting continued delivery of offshore wind targets.

5.2   Strengthen the integration of wind and solar energy and with energy storage systems. Such integration would enhance stability by mitigating intermittency, reducing grid congestion, and releasing feeder capacity. Integrated systems would also support development of virtual power plants and strengthen grid resilience.

5.3   Optimize existing assets and streamline repowering to strengthen supply security. The Committee recommends enabling life extension of existing projects by expediting permitting for equipment upgrades and ensuring continued access to feeder capacity. Streamlining repowering, including adoption of higher-efficiency technologies, will increase generation at existing sites and reduce reliance on new capacity with long development timelines.