The Ministry of Economic Affairs' Bureau of Energy released its monthly energy statistics last week, stating that renewable energy accounted for 8.3% of Taiwan's total electricity generation in 2022, narrowly surpassing nuclear power's 8.2%. This marked the first time that renewable energy surpassed nuclear power in a full year. Renewable energy generation increased by 36% compared to the previous year. The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that it will continue to increase green power installation capacity, projecting it will reach 29GW by 2025.
Renewable energy accounted for 8.3% of the total electricity generation for the year, surpassing nuclear energy by a small margin for the first time.
To achieve the 2050 net-zero emissions goal, Taiwan is fully committed to developing renewable energy. According to the latest monthly energy statistics released by the National Energy Administration last week (February 7), renewable energy generation reached 23,843 GWh from January to December 2022, accounting for approximately 8.3% of total electricity generation. This narrowly surpassed nuclear power generation, which accounted for 23,755 GWh, or 8.2%. This marked the first time that renewable energy generation surpassed nuclear power in a full year. Compared to 2021, when renewable energy generation was only 17,456 GWh, this represents a 36% increase in 2022 alone.
Comparing the global power generation structure, according to the "2020 Global Nuclear Energy Industry Status Report," global renewable energy generation surpassed nuclear power for the first time in 2019. The latest "2022 Global Nuclear Energy Industry Status Report" shows that nuclear power's share of global power generation fell to 9.8% in 2021, falling below 10% for the first time and reaching its lowest point in 40 years.
The European Union achieved its "greenest year" in 2020, with renewable energy accounting for 38% of the 27 member states' total electricity generation, surpassing the 37% from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. A recent report by the European environment and energy think tank Ember indicated that wind and solar power alone will account for 22% of the EU's electricity in 2022, becoming the largest source of electricity, with continued growth expected in 2023.
Thermal power still accounts for 80% of electricity generation; Ministry of Economic Affairs again calls for coal reduction and gas increase
Despite the surge in renewable energy, thermal power remains the primary form of electricity generation in China, generating 237,487 GWh last year, accounting for 82.4%. Coal-fired power accounted for 121,209 GWh, or 42.1%, while gas-fired power accounted for 111,828 GWh, or 38.8%.
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' mid-term energy transition plan, "Reducing Coal and Increasing Natural Gas," by 2030, renewable energy will account for 27% to 30% of electricity generation, coal 20%, and natural gas 50%, reversing the previous plan of "20% renewable energy, 30% coal." The Ministry of Economic Affairs emphasized that no new coal-fired power generation or expansion is planned before 2025, and that decommissioned coal-fired power plants will be converted to natural gas.
"Nuclearization" is also a key energy policy priority. Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 has entered its decommissioning phase, while Unit 1 of Nuclear Power Plant No. 2 has already shut down. Unit 2 will be officially decommissioned after its license expires in March of this year. Nuclear Power Plant No. 3 is expected to be decommissioned in 2025.
Continue to increase green power capacity and review the "Large Electricity User Clause" by year-end.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs estimates that Taiwan's total installed capacity of renewable energy will reach 29GW by 2025, including 20GW of solar photovoltaics and 5.7GW of offshore wind power.
To promote the expansion of renewable energy installation capacity, environmental groups are calling for amendments to the "Large Electricity User Clause" (management measures requiring electricity users above a certain contract capacity to install renewable energy power generation equipment), lowering the threshold for large users, increasing the mandatory renewable energy capacity, and allowing companies to increase the proportion of their own green energy to reduce overall green electricity pressure.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/236096)
