OMNI Features｜MOEA Preannounce Amendments to The Electricity Act．Governor Launches New York's Largest Sunrise Wind Offshore Wind Project

(Source: Sunrise Wind)

｜MOEA Preannounce Amendments to The Electricity Act to Enhance Green Energy Trading and Power Market Development
On July 19, 2024, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) officially announced proposed amendments to specific provisions of "The Electricity Act," aimed at revitalizing the green energy trading market and supporting the 2050 net-zero transition goals.

Since the liberalization of green energy trading in 2017, the power market environment has progressively diversified, and fair grid usage has seen advancements. These amendments emphasize the ongoing strengthening of the power system, while increasing regulations for grid-connected energy storage and demand response measures to align with renewable energy development trends.

The preannounced amendment of the Electricity Act, focusing on three main adjustments. These include allowing mutual trading among renewable energy electricity retailers, introducing a new category termed "Specific Electricity Supply Business" to encompass providers such as demand response aggregators and other electricity resources. These entities will require an electricity license and are mandated to handle emergency incident notifications. Additionally, Taipower operations will remain integrated without division into separate entities for generation, transmission, and distribution.

According to MOEA, these adjustments in the draft amendment to the Electricity Act are made in response to national policies promoting renewable energy development and achieving net-zero transformation. The amendments aim to facilitate active and dynamic green energy trading and enhance grid resilience.

A 60-day public consultation period is announced, during which stakeholders can submit feedback to the Ministry. After consolidating feedback from various sectors, the Ministry will submit the proposal to the Executive Yuan for approval, followed by legislative procedures in the Legislative Yuan.

MOEA noted that the amendment relaxes current restrictions on green energy trading and addresses the regulatory gaps concerning emerging electricity resources such as grid-connected energy storage and demand response measures. Opening up trading among renewable energy electricity sellers allows for broader market interactions beyond direct customer sales, marking a significant liberalization in the Electricity Act.

MOEA highlighted that since 2017, green energy trading has been permitted domestically, but renewable energy electricity sellers have been restricted to selling directly to end-users without the ability to purchase from peers for balancing purposes. With the proposed amendments, such transactions will be facilitated based on market demands.

Regarding the new category of "Specific Electricity Supply Business," it encompasses entities involved in grid-connected energy storage and demand response measures, requiring them to obtain an electricity license and fulfill operational and emergency incident reporting obligations.

The Ministry emphasized that as renewable energy increasingly involves non-traditional generators such as demand response aggregators and energy storage batteries, these amendments aim to formally regulate these entities under the Electricity Act. This allows for streamlined operations, particularly in managing demand response requirements through representative actions on behalf of user groups, thus alleviating direct involvement from Taipower.

The 2017 amendment to the Electricity Act initially required Taipower to complete separation of its generation, transmission, and retail operations by the end of 2025. However, the Executive Yuan has agreed to maintain Taipower's integrated utility structure, prompting the current amendments to remove related provisions accordingly.

The key amendments are as follows:
1. Revising the definition of renewable energy power retailers, removing the restriction that initially limited sales to end-users only, thereby allowing transactions between renewable energy power sellers. (Revised Article 2)
2. Introducing a category for specific power suppliers, mandating that grid-connected energy storage and demand response measures participating in the power trading platform must obtain a power business license and fulfill operational and emergency reporting obligations. (Revised Articles 2, 15, 19, 24, 35)

These amendments aim to stabilize the power supply and achieve net-zero transition goals, considering international geopolitical factors and global pandemic-induced energy price fluctuations. The Taiwan Power Company (Taipower/TPC) will retain an integrated utility model, combining generation, transmission, distribution, and sales resources to support government policy initiatives maximally. Additionally, the amendments include a review mechanism for the operational model of the power trading platform to ensure neutral operation.

Key amendments include:
1. Taipower retains an integrated utility model (Article 6).
2. Establishment of a power trading platform with ongoing reviews of its operational model (Article 11).

｜Governor Launches New York's Largest Sunrise Wind Offshore Wind Project
On the 17th, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York State announced the commencement of the construction of New York's largest offshore wind project, Sunrise Wind. Led by Ørsted, the project has a capacity of 924 MW. Upon completion, it is expected to provide clean energy to approximately 600,000 New York households. Hochul also announced the issuance of the fifth offshore wind solicitation under New York's 10-Point Action Plan to drive the next wave of clean energy development along the state’s coast, with final proposals due by September 9, 2024.

Sunrise Wind has achieved all major federal and state permitting milestones, receiving the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on June 21, 2024.

Reference: MOEA｜ocean-energyresources.com