《TAIPEI TIMES》 Ministry seeks private sector help for energy storage

By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday called on the private sector to find solutions to energy storage problems as part of the government’s initiative to develop renewable energy.

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Speaking at a news conference announcing the Energy Taiwan forum, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng （曾文生） said that one way companies can participate in the adoption of renewable energy is by providing operating reserve to the national grid.

As Taiwan becomes increasingly reliant on renewable energy, energy storage solutions are needed to ensure a stable power supply. State-owned Taiwan Power Co （Taipower, 台電） keeps an operating reserve of 10 percent, mostly by keeping its fossil-fuel power plants on standby.

However, there is mounting interest in decentralized smart energy storage solutions working as “virtual power plants” that aggregate and distribute power as supply and demand fluctuate.

“Taipower would like to buy more operating reserve as a service, and less equipment to ensure operating reserve,” Tseng said.

“It is no longer in doubt that renewable energy is the way forward for Taiwan, but the government cannot do it alone,” he said. “We are using market mechanisms to increase the resilience of our grid.”

The government is preparing to start requiring more than 500 of the nation’s large energy users to increase their renewable energy usage starting in January next year.

“Next year is going to be the ‘year zero’ of energy storage in Taiwan,” United Renewable Energy Co （聯合再生能源） chief executive officer Pan Wen-whe （潘文輝） said.

One of the ways companies can comply with the requirement is by providing energy storage.

Other ways to comply with the requirement is to install renewable energy generation facilities on site, buying renewable energy certificates through the Taiwan Renewable Energy Certificate （T-REC） program or paying a renewable energy fee in lieu of participation.

“As T-RECs are going to be in very short supply, the best way to meet the requirements for many companies is a combination of rooftop photovoltaics and energy storage,” Pan said.

The forum runs from today through Friday at the Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 1.

It is to include the Global Renewable Energy Supply Chain Summit, the Photovoltaic Executive Summit, and the Smart Energy Storage and Systems Integration Forum.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES