Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced that the government’s feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme for renewable generation is expected to result in an increase of around TWD 0.27/kWh in the island’s electricity price in the year 2025. Sheng Jong-Chin, who heads the MOEA, reported this information to the members of the Taiwan’s legislature on 2 May. Sheng stated that the price of the electricity will change as part of the government’s push for expanding renewable generation. Shen also stated that Taiwan has just started to develop its offshore wind sector, so the formulation of the island’s FIT scheme follows closely to the current FIT systems in other countries worldwide. Sheng added that FIT will not significantly affect the domestic electricity market as the share of renewables in the island’s electricity mix will still be relatively small in 2025.

Shen went to Taiwan’s legislature to face questions on the development of the offshore wind sector and the possibility of major price hikes in both gasoline and electricity prices. When asked about the effect of the government’s FIT scheme on the domestic electricity market, Shen answered that the latest analysis indicates that the price of electricity will go up by around TWD 0.27/kWh in 2025 due to implementation of the subsidy. This estimation takes account of the forecast share of renewable generation within the island’s total electricity output during that year. Shen emphasized to the legislature that this particular calculation applies only to 2025, and the electricity price will not see a significant hike like this in the present period.

Shen also responded to the issue of the FIT rates for offshore wind generation being too high. Shen pointed out that Taiwan’s offshore wind sector is forecast to reach an annual output of 19.8 billion kWh in 2025, whereas the island’s projected total electricity output for that whole year will be at least 200 billion kWh. Shen therefore contended the FIT rates for wind power are not going have a major impact on the domestic electricity market. Shen added that wind generation is sustainable and self-sufficient as opposed to coal-fired and gas-fired generation, which rely on fossil fuel imports.

(The credit of the photo at the top of the article goes to Ian Muttoo via Flickr and falls under the license of CC BY-SA 2.0 TW.)