Taiwan’s renewables opportunities in the spotlight at Business Connect webinar

The ambitious renewable energy agenda and the development of technology infrastructure in Taiwan has created major opportunities for local and global manufacturers as well as investors and energy companies across the value chain, according to panelists and participants at the Business Connect: Taiwan Business and Trade Show Webinar that took place on Wednesday.

Organised by the Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade, dozens of CEOs and senior executives from the solar, wind, and energy storage sectors, policy makers, thought leaders and regional investors from across ASEAN took part in the Business Connect webinar that was powered by Energy Connects.

“The development of the technology infrastructure in Taiwan is geared towards ensuring zero emissions and reduction of greenhouse gases,” Dr Meg J. C. Lin, Deputy Director of Research Division I, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, and CEO, Taiwan Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Partnership, said in her opening remarks at the conference.

“By 2025, 20% of Taiwan’s energy grid will be green along with a robust green finance sector. The energy storage and hydrogen industries are well developed and full of opportunities, with more than 50 companies working in the sector,” Dr Lin added.

Taiwan plans to generate 20% of its energy from renewable energy by 2025, up from 5% in 2020, with an increasing focus on more LNG and renewables.

According to Dr Lin, between 2021 and 2025, Taiwan will add 5.7GW of already allocated offshore wind power to the grid, while an additional 10GW of offshore wind will be added to the grid between 2026-2035. For solar energy, Taiwan is slated to add 14.2 GW to the grid by 2025.

“The total value of wind and solar projects in the pipeline in Taiwan amounts to approximately $82.9 billion, among the highest tallies in the Asia region,” Dr Lin said.

According to Christophe Inglin, Deputy Chairman and Clean Energy Committee Chair, Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS), there is a massive scope for Singapore-Taiwan collaboration on renewable energy.

“Singapore has emerged as a cleantech hub for research and financing. More than 95% of Singapore’s electricity generation is already from gas. In the renewables sector, Singapore’s target is to generate 1.5GWp by 2025 and 2 GWp by 2030 from solar energy. Opportunities in the PV sector include the wide variety of commercial and residential rooftops to reservoirs, marine floating PVs and temporary land that can be moved quickly,” Inglin told participants at the webinar.

With the Energy Market Authority aiming to source 4GW of 24x7 low carbon power by 2035, including GW-scale solar farms, floating PVs and energy storage systems and power imports via HVDC subsea cables, Inglin said there were abundant opportunities for the manufacturing ecosystem in both Singapore and Taiwan to reap the advantage of it.

According to Hendrik Bohne, Head of Business Development & Asset Management at Aquila Capital and moderator of the industry panel discussion on Navigating the Landscape and Seizing the Market Opportunities in Taiwan’s Renewables Sector, events such as the Business Connect webinar help spread the message across for the renewables industry and “go a long way in helping stakeholders achieve their goals and targets in wind or solar power”.