《TAIPEI TIMES》 Non-nuclear green energy demand rising: minister

/ Staff writer, with CNA

With 31 big Taiwanese companies joining the RE100 initiative, the demand for non-nuclear renewable energy is rapidly increasing, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua （王美花） said at a virtual forum on Tuesday.

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RE100 is a global initiative where businesses commit to use 100 percent renewable energy.

The 31 companies, including major chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co （台積電） and United Microelectronics Corp （聯電）, have a combined revenue of about NT$5.8 trillion （US$178.8 billion）, Wang said in her speech about renewable energy development in Taiwan.

“Renewable energy, as defined by RE100, does not include nuclear power,” she said.

Taiwan is estimated to generate about 35.6 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy this year, while enterprise demand, based on a ministry survey, is about 22.1 billion kilowatt-hours, which shows that the supply of renewable energy is sufficient to meet demand, she said.

Rebutting criticism of the government’s policy of zero nuclear power by 2025, Wang said that diversifying the sources of energy by increasing non-nuclear renewable energy should not be seen as a cause of possible future power shortages.

The minister’s remarks came amid demands by some companies or groups that the lifespan of the Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants in New Taipei City’s Wanli District （萬里） and Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township （恆春） be extended.

Tung Tzu-hsien （童子賢）, chairman of contract electronics maker Pegatron Corp （和碩）, said in an interview on Monday that non-nuclear renewable energy would not be sufficient for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

By importing a new kind of nuclear power plant designed by Finland called OL3 and extending the service of the Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants, Taiwan could immediately raise its non-carbon-emitting power to about 50 percent of its energy mix from the current 16 percent, he said.

Tung’s comments have raised particular attention as he is vice chairman of the New Frontier Foundation, a Democratic Progressive Party-affiliated think tank.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES