Shi-Bow Elementary School, Taiwan
The Taiwanese government is accelerating efforts to develop renewable energy, mainly wind power, to guard against a sustained rise in fuel costs, government officials said recently.
Taiwan is heavily dependent on fuel imports, sourcing over 98% of its fuel abroad. The nation's sole power supplier is the state-run Taiwan Power Company. It's paying nearly double what it paid for coal last year. The spectre of a coming energy crisis seems to have spurred Taiwan's government to increase efforts to develop domestic alternative energy resources.
According to the article in Power Engineering Taiwan currently produces 5.4% of its power from renewables sources and hopes to increase this to 10% by 2010.
According to Wang Yunn-ming, deputy director of the Bureau of Energy, wind power has been chosen by Taipower, as well as various private companies, as a major energy source to exploit, Wang said.
"We estimate that wind power will make up 80 per cent of our 10 per cent renewable-energy capacity by 2010," Wang said.
Private companies have been showing high interest in exploiting the nation's rich wind-power resources. Last year, Germany's Infra Vest Windpower Corporation started building Taiwan's largest wind power electricity plant in Chiayi County. Under the plan, the company will build 70 wind turbines at the plant. The company is scheduled to launch the power plant next year. The company plans to build additional plants in Taoyuan and Changhwa. Overall, there will be 200 wind turbines scattered along the west coast of Taiwan within five years.
Power Engineering Article on Alternative Energy in Taiwan
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