At Thursday's weekly Cabinet meeting, Premier Chen Chien-jen received a briefing from the Ministry of Economic Affairs on progress toward the nation's transition to green energy. To ensure a stable power supply and reduce air pollution and carbon emissions, the government will continue to maximize the development of solar power, offshore wind power and future-oriented energy sources, the premier said. This administration is also enhancing energy efficiency and implementing various complementary measures such as diversified energy storage and strengthened power grid resilience, to gradually transition the nation to green energy.
Developing low-carbon green energy and increasing energy autonomy have become top priorities as Taiwan responds to the global trend toward net-zero carbon emissions, the premier said. With stability of power supply always a prerequisite, maximizing the use of green energy will not only reduce air pollution, but also help Taiwan's export-oriented industries obtain green power and carbon credits, while additionally strengthening national competitiveness.
Premier Chen said that as of August this year, wind and solar power installations have accumulated a generation capacity of about 13.9 gigawatts (GW), a sevenfold increase from 1.9 GW in 2016. Renewable energy capacity has also grown from 12.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2016 up to an estimated 27.5 billion kWh this year, with green energy now comprising about 10% of total generation capacity. Energy efficiency in Taiwan also continues to improve. According to a 2022 report published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Taiwan's energy efficiency has risen to No. 8 worldwide, second only to Japan in Asia.