The government’s Dawning Green Energy Industry Program is geared to achieve production of NT$1.16 trillion (US$38.09 billion), bring about more than NT$200 billion in private investment and create 110,000 jobs by 2015, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Huang Jung-chiou said Sept. 29.
Premier Wu Den-yih, after listening to a report on the program at an Executive Yuan meeting, instructed the Ministry of Economic Affairs to continue leading manufacturers in developing key technologies, such as for energy storage, and integrating innovative applications. It should also implement measures to help enterprises overcome obstacles to investment and business operations, he added.
The ministry reported that Taiwan’s green energy industry is already globally competitive, noting that the domestic solar cell sector’s total production in 2010 reached 3 gigawatts, ahead of Japan’s 2.5 GW, to rank second in the world.
At the same time, the Taiwan light-emitting diode lighting industry’s total production ranked first in volume and second in value worldwide. In addition, with the launch of a 2-megawatt wind turbine, Taiwan became the globe’s eighth largest producer of large-scale wind turbines last year, the ministry said.
The Taiwan green energy industry’s total production hit NT$380 billion in 2010, marking a roughly 1.3-fold increase over the figure two years earlier, while the number of people employed in the sector amounted to 55,900 at the end of last year, up by a whopping 39,900 in just two years. Meanwhile, total investment in the sector reached NT$138.4 billion for the period between 2008 and 2010, according to the ministry.
Speaking at a news conference afterward, Huang said most of the traffic lights around the country have been refitted with energy-saving LED lamps and that street lights will be next, adding that citizens will also be encouraged to switch to LED lighting at home.
Huang noted that when the Statute for Renewable Energy Development was passed in 2009, the goal was to generate at least 6,500 megawatts of renewable energy by 2030. That target has been moved forward to the year 2025, with a new goal of 12,500 MW for 2030, he said.
