Although the ratio of wind power in Taiwan is currently insignificant, it is elevating each year as large offshore wind farms are implementing grid construction successively, where power dispatching and the stability of power grid will become the priorities. Thus, the “Workshop on Key Technology of Offshore Wind Farm Integrations to Power Supply Security in Taiwan” that made its debut on July 22nd had invited domestic and foreign industries, academia, and research institutions on exploring stability power provision together.
Tseng Wen-sheng, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, commented that the implementation of the carbon tax that is currently under discussion from the EU will create a major impact on the industries in Taiwan. The development of renewable energy has become one of the most important factors of production for enterprises in terms of international competitiveness, where not only pure energy is required, but a sufficient quantity of green power for manufacturers is also equally essential, which will become a critical consideration for the development of Taiwanese industry.
The European Union (EU) has proposed a carbon tax policy stipulation, which imposes carbon border tax on imported goods from energy intensive countries of high carbon emission, in order to protect European enterprises from unfair competition.
Apple also announced a press release on July 21st that pointed out the company will commit to being 100% carbon neutral for its businesses, supply chain, and products by 2030, while also dedicating itself to researching and developing low carbon products, elevating performance, and implementing the application of renewable energy in the company itself and the supply chain.
The importance of the development in renewable energy is once again indicated, whether it’s the new vision of Apple, or the carbon tax proposed by the EU, though the development in green energy will also face numerous challenges. Edwin Liu, President of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, pointed out that renewable energy is prone to the issue of intermittence, and that the development process requires an establishment of industry concatenation, acceleration in conforming to international standards, and facilitation in local autonomous production of key technology, in order to realize a sustainable energy development in Taiwan. Fortunately, Taiwan is not the first country who has encountered this problem, where there are plenty of past examples to learn from.
As pointed out by Edwin Lin, the development of green energy is a prolonged and nationally agreed direction, where only a cooperation between the industry, academia, and the government can move forward with the planning, and international symposiums are also able to locate corresponding solutions in technical challenges and cultivate next generation of talents, while also forming a national consensus through communications on controversial topics.
Stable Power Consumption Became Essential as Ratio of Offshore Wind Power Increases
When it comes to the development of renewable energy, one must mention the key player offshore wind power. In addition to the Formosa 1 that previously reached 128MW in installed capacity, the 109MW wind farm of TPC will also implement grid construction by the end of the year, with more wind farms being established next year. Meteorology, power generation volume, and prediction of power consumption, are all essential elements in maintaining the tenacity of the power grid.
Chang Chia-wen, Director of Power Department of wpd Taiwan, pointed out that the tenacity refers to the functions of the power system, including prediction, interpretation, adaptation, and rapid recovery in operation, during major incidents or destruction. A number of European governments have stipulated wind power equipment standards, regulations of grid construction, and rules regarding devices, and instruct wind power manufacturers to provide different levels of ancillary services, incorporate grid construction impact into engineering items, execute advanced risk evaluation, prevention, and management, as well as reinforce the tenacity of the power grid, in order to co-maintain the stability in power provision.
Steve John Holliday, former CEO of National Grid plc, commented that the UK has established a comprehensive power ancillary service mechanism in order to overcome the intermittence for the power provision from offshore wind farms, including rapid demand response, as well as reserve power sources such as large energy storage system and hydropower units, which manage power consumption from the demand end, and store excessive power, so as to properly utilize each kilowatt of power and maintain stable power provision.
(Cover photo source: captured by <TechNews>)