Cabinet launches renewable energy project

With the Cabinet approval, the government will invest NT$25 billion (US$739.64 million) over the next five years in the development of renewable energy and will subsidize the general installation of energy-saving devices, according to the project proposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The government will also provide NT$20 billion for a research and development fund for green energy technologies, which are expected in turn to draw NT$200 billion in private investment in the industry.

The program will target industries that focus on solar energy, light emitting diode (LED) lighting, wind power, biomass fuel, hydrogen power, fuel cells, electric vehicles, energy information and communication technology.

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that making Taiwan into a low-carbon society is one of the administration's priorities in line with President Ma Ying-jeou's renewable energy policies.

He referred again to his pledge earlier in the month at a national energy conference that the government will spare no effort to advance its goal of building a "low carbon-emission homeland."

The premier said he was confident that the MOEA project will help to stimulate Taiwan's renewable energy industry and create more job opportunities in that sector.

Liu added his voice to President Ma's call for the legislators to quickly pass a renewable energy bill that has been stalled for a long time.

He said that the MOEA should push for the legislation's passage as it will provide a legal basis for the accelerated development of the energy sector.

Under a NT$500 billion four-year economic stimulus plan proposed by the Cabinet last November, the government will spend 10 percent of the fund to promote green energy industries and to fund engineering work on renewable energy, Liu said.

Meanwhile, the MOEA should set up a task force to examine the difficulties that green energy industries are facing and help them clear technical bottlenecks and deal with investment and operating problems, the premier suggested.

The government will help achieve several major goals, including turning Taiwan into the world's largest supplier of LED modules, one of the three top manufacturers of solar energy batteries and a major production center for electric vehicles in the Asia Pacific region.

To pump more funds into the sector, the government's National Development Fund will give priority to investing in the green energy sector through capital investment by the top five venture capital funds targeting companies in the field.

Among the various steps, Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming said all of Taiwan's traffic lights, about 700,000, are expected to be converted to energy-saving LED installations by 2011 in accordance with the program.

Speaking at the at the Cabinet meeting, Yiin said Taiwan will be the first country in the world to have LED traffic lights installed nationwide, when the plan to install light emitting diode (LED) traffic lights is completed by 2011.

The program is expected to turn the green energy sector into the country's new industrial sector with annual output value surpassing NT$1 trillion (US$29.59 billion), following in the footsteps of Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing industry, which took off in the 1980s and optoelectronic industry, which was launched in the 1990s, Yiin said.

"By 2015, the green energy sector is expected to create 110,000 jobs in Taiwan each year," the minister said.

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