Private sector representatives from Taiwan and mainland China signed eight agreements and letters of intent on August 30 at the 2012 Cross-Strait Renewable Energy Industry Cooperation Conference, according to the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Energy.
More than 50 industry delegates from Taiwan and 150 from the other side of the strait are attending the conference August 30-31 in Baoding, Hebei province, mainland China.
Jerry J R Ou, director-general of the BOE, said that in 2011 mainland China and Taiwan were No. 1 and No. 2 worldwide in the production of solar cells, accounting for more than 60 percent of total market share. “We have tremendous influence in the global industry, making future cross-strait cooperation in the renewable energy sector increasingly important.”
Private companies, industry associations and research institutes inked five letters of intent pertaining to solar energy, along with three cooperation agreements on wind power, the BOE said. Businesses from the two sides will collaborate in the development of offshore wind farms and typhoon protection technology and standards.
The MOEA began targeting cross-strait cooperation in a range of industries in 2008, holding conferences to allow individual sectors to establish connections, Ou said.
The solar and wind power industries have already set up a cooperative mechanism and platform for exchanges, he noted, adding that joint ventures are now getting under way. He hopes that through the Cross-Strait New Energies Working Group cooperative business opportunities can be expanded and the global market further developed, he said.
