Advancing Diverse Green Energy Aligns with Global Trends; Offshore Wind Power Now Directly Sold to Enterprises

With regards to media reporting once again that Taipower's losses came from Feed-in Tariff price of offshore wind, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) pointed out that Taipower's losses were mainly due to the rise in international fuel prices from 2022 to 2024, which put Taipower under huge fuel cost pressure and were not directly related to the development of offshore wind. The Energy Administration of the MOEA explained as follows:

1. The development of offshore wind in the domestic market is based on the practice of the international market, with Feed-in Tariff (FIT) support first and then bidding. The Energy Administration has stated many times that the promotion of offshore wind in Taiwan is based on the long-established practices of mature overseas markets such as the United Kingdom and Germany. However, the media once again used 2.5 NTD/kWh, which is rare in the world and is never the price being purchased, to calculate the so-called 910 billion. This is a completely wrong interpretation.

2. The zonal development of offshore wind has moved towards a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) model, without the need for Taipower to purchase all the electricity. The domestic offshore wind market has been matured, and the zonal development stage has moved towards a CPPA market where off-takers sign CPPAs with offshore wind project developers. Taipower is no longer the sole purchaser, and there are no financial issues involved with Taipower.

3. The target price for overseas green electricity to be transported back to Taiwan is 4 NTD/kWh. Purchases will only be made if the price is lower than 4 NTD/kWh. The cost of power generation in Taiwan and the Philippines differs due to factors such as land costs, power generation hours, etc., and it is not suitable to directly compare. The Energy Administration once again emphasized that the target price for overseas green electricity to be transported back to Taiwan is 4 NTD/kWh. Purchases will only be made if the price is lower than 4 NTD/kWh, so as to meet the needs of domestic enterprises and not affect domestic electricity prices.

The Energy Administration stated that Taiwan's offshore wind development has achieved concrete results. To date, 7 offshore wind farms are constructed, with a total of 374 wind turbines installed and the installed capacity up to 3.04 GW. According to Bloomberg New Finance (BNEF), newly installed capacity in Taiwan in 2024 reached 1,783MW, ranking first in the world expect China. Taiwan has become one of the leaders of offshore wind market in democratic countries in the world. Furthermore, according to statistics from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), accumulative installed capacity of offshore wind in Taiwan in 2023 has ranked 7th in the world.

The Energy Administration of the MOEA stated that Taiwan's policies to promote diversified renewable energy and energy saving are in line with mainstream international trends. In the past, electricity price increases were due to the sharp rise of international fuel prices. To effectively alleviate domestic inflationary pressure and to take care of people's livelihood, the electricity costs were not fully reflected on the electricity prices.