Portfolio of Power Source and Wind Energy of Taiwan

Speaker: Prof. Yang-Yao Niu (Department of Aerospace Engineering, Tamkang University)

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The industrial revolution make a big impacts in energy consumptions, fossil energy( coal,
oil, and natural gas.) had been explored and adopted in great amount, it is gradually depleting right
now, the global reserves and remaining available years of major energies.

In the meantime, power generation is leading cause of CO2 emissions, Increasing atmospheric
CO2 is warming the planet, and it caused impacts on the environment such as: green-house effect
and environmental pollution, etc. reduce the dependence on traditional energy and the damage on
our environment are needed in that case. In the meanwhile, sufficient energy being able to supply
to fulfill the needs of both economics and livelihood, have become the biggest issue for human
being. Renewable energies are sustainable and clean energies, which may overcome the gradual
depletion of traditional fossil energies that have impacts on environment, and which may also solve
the issues of energy sustainability, economical development, and environmental protection, so the
development and application of renewable energies had been accelerated in last decade and it play
an important role in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions in a country’s.
In the fact, More than 97 percent of Taiwan's energy demand imports from abroad, and most from
the Middle East it is have enormous impact on Taiwan’s economy the energy supply and demand
situation In 2015, the dependence on imported energy in Taiwan, R.O.C. was 97.53%; the value
of energy imports was US$36.7 billion, which was 42.87% less than the previous year; the per
capita energy imports cost burden in 2015 was NT$50,542, which was a decrease of 40.19%
compared with NT$84,508 in 2014.[1], so the development of renewable energy becomes an only
survival way for Taiwan, include solar energy (solar photovoltaics and solar thermal energy), wind
energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, ocean energies (such as: ocean thermal energy
conversion, tidal power, and wave energy, etc.), which are all natural energy resources coming
from the sun or possessed by earth, other renewable energies also including biomass energies, such
as: waste energy, biogas electrification, and biofuel, etc. reserves of renewable energies in Taiwan
should be quite rich, because there are plenty of remarkable conditions as follows. First of all,
Taiwan is located in subtropical area, in which the Tropic of Cancer passes through central Taiwan,
so the insolation time is long and the angle of daylight deflection is small, very suitable for the
development of solar energy. In addition, there are summer and winter monsoons along the western
ring of Pacific Ocean, making Taiwan Strait like a fast wind tunnel. Meanwhile, with the west
coast stretching a large bank, Taiwan has a great potential for offshore wind power generation.
Particularly, with wind speed up to 7m/s and above all year round, the area of Penghu is a wind
field of high-quality. Potential of biomass energy can't be underestimated either. Apart from wastes
generated from livelihood of people, industry and agriculture, plenty of energy crops can be used
for producing biofuels. With fewer and fewer areas available in land, the development of offshore
wind farm on the sea is inevitable. Setting up offshore wind farm on the sea can keep the people
from the affects of noise or visual impact and avoid the high land cost. At the same time, due to
fewer obstructions, the wind on the sea surface has higher speed than the inland area’s, in addition
to smooth airflow and stability, so the overall availability of offshore wind farm is higher than that
of terrestrial wind farm. To sum up, the potential installation capacity of wind power in both areas
of land and sea in Taiwan is 4 GW and 73.5 GW respectively. The electricity generation per year
is about 251.01TWh/year, which is not far off 258.02 TWh [2], the total electricity generated in
2015 Taiwan. Although wind still can not provide stable power under current technology, with the
advances of nano-materials technology to develop energy storage device in small volume and with
high energy density, the stability of wind power can be improved significantly in the future.
The main elements in Taiwan’s green power shift are reviewed, with focus on developments since
the election of the DPP government in early 2016 and its commitment to phase out nuclear power
in Taiwan by 2025. The drivers of the shift are identified, concentrating on solar PV power and
the potential for offshore wind power. Like other countries in East Asia similarly pursuing a green
shift, Taiwan is as much concerned with the business and export prospects for green industry as
with reducing carbon emissions. Nuclear-powered electricity generation has already shown signs
of a sharp reduction, down from 400 TWh in 2015 to 300 TWh in 2016, and anticipated further
reductions to zero by 2025 as no new starts are to be allowed. Total power generation in 2016
amounted to 2257 TWh (or billion kWh), with 37% coming from coal and 36% from gas. The
DPP government has pursued a strong commitment to raising the contribution of green sources
(meaning: power sourced from water, wind and sun) to electric power generation. In proportional
terms the contribution from WWS sources has risen from 4.8% in 2015 to 6. 6% in 2016 (including
1.5% of pumped hydro storage), with a target of 20% to be reached by 2025, i.e. over the next
eight years. Excluding nuclear, this is planned to come largely from a strong expansion of the solar
PV sector, being raised from a capacity of 1.3 GW in 2016 to 20 GW by 2025. GDP by 1.31%,
reduce employment by 83,000 and drive consumer prices up by 1.3%. Taiwan hopes that by
2025, coal fired power generation will reach 30%, gas will account for 50%, renewable energy
will account for 20% and other will be 0%. Evidently, the new natural gas receiving station cannot
be completed in time and the renewable energy is unlikely to increase significantly in short term.
Taipower Company is currently the only utility in Taiwan. Based on structure of power generation
data on 2016, 82% of total electricity also comes from thermal power. In 2016, approximately 23%
of electricity is not generated from Taipower. Over the same period wind power is to be raised in
capacity from 755 MW to 4200 MW (4.2 GW). The DPP government has an energy security policy
commitment which focuses on natural gas as interim bridging fuel while nuclear is wound back
and renewables are wound up. The contribution of coal is to be wound back, with its proportional
contribution being lowered from 45% down to 30% of electricity generated by 2025, while gas is
seen as the bridging power source and is projected to peak at 50% of power generation by 2025.

Figure 1. Taiwan’s electricity generation, 2016 (Source: Based on data from TaiPower)

Table 3. Renewable energy targets (source: Bureau of Energy)

In October 2016 the Taiwan government (Executive Yuan) issued short-term targets for solar PV
growth and again in June 2017 for wind power. The solar PV program is to be phased out over two
years, raising solar PV ,Wind power is to be promoted under a four-year plan that aims at
enhancing domestic demand and taking a balanced approach to both onshore wind and offshore
wind power. The target is to reach an extra capacity of 3 GW offshore wind power and 1.2 GW in
onshore (land-based) capacity, making 4.2 GW of wind power over the period 2017 to 2020, and
calling for investment of NT$610 billion (US$19.2 billion). According to the New Energy Policy,
the Executive Yuan of Taiwan has taken decisive action in short term and long term strategy
designed to achieve a non-nuclear homeland by 2025. This has included stabilizing thermal power
supply with better efficiency, adopting demand respond (DR) and price differentiation on
electricity, and planned reductions in energy consumption levels. In the medium - term, natural
gas power generator will play the role of bridging fuel and will be expected to peak at 50% of
power generation. Overall renewable energy sources are anticipated to reach 20% of the power
generation by 2025. To achieve this goal, smart grid and metering have to be implemented and
large energy storage solution such as more hydro pump is required.
Conclusions and prospects Since Taiwan relies on imports for 97% of energy supply, energy
security constitutes the most important topic of national energy policy. The development of
renewable energy resources not only can contribute the independence and autonomy of energy
supply, but also can achieve the effectiveness of economic development and environmental
protection. According to the estimation, the reserve of wind energy In 2016, approximately 23%
of electricity is not generated from Taipower. Over the same period wind power is to be raised in
capacity from 755 MW to 4200 MW (4.2 GW). Based on the latest national energy policy,
"Nuclear-free Homeland", the RE power installed capacity in 2025 will reach 27,363 MW. With
the promotion policies of carbon reduction and energy diversification, while in response to energy
security issues, Taiwanese government accelerates the development of renewable energy potential
and expands various types of renewable energy promotion goal from 4,929MW in 2016 to
27,363MW in 2025[table 3].A significant growth in new and renewable energy utilization can be
expected. In order to achieve the goal of 20% renewables in the structure of energy distribution in
2025, the government have made the Electricity Act amendment to promote the electricity market
reform.

References:
[1] A review of renewable energies in Taiwan; https://www.researchgate.net
[2] Taiwan Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs (BOEMOEA), Energy Statistics
Handbook 2015.
[3] NREL, Energy from Offshore Wind, Available online:
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy06osti/39450.pdf (Accessed 2015.12.25
[4] Justin Chou and John A. Mathews; Taiwan’s Green Energy Transition Under Way;
https://apjjf.org/2017/21/Chou.html