The major electricity user clause will become effective in early 2021 at the earliest, and clearly stipulates users with contract of 5MW or above electricity capacity must use a certain ratio of green power, for which UPS supplier Eaton has also released a dual-use solution of uninterruptible power and energy storage in order to respond to the new clauses of renewable energy under the objectives of achieving cost-effectiveness for customers and the green energy targets of the government.
According to the amendment of the Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019, major electricity users of more than 5MW are required to establish 10% of the contracted capacity within 5 years, which is equivalent to an installed capacity of 500Kw of green power, or either install energy storage systems or purchase renewable energy certificates and voucher payments. There are more than 500 households that fit the requirement of the clause, and among which more than 300 are enterprises of semiconductor, panel, chemical engineering, and petrochemical industries.
Eaton showcased EnergyAware, its dual-use system for power protection and energy storage of critical power, in SEMICON Taiwan 2020, and commented that most major electricity manufacturers are adopted with precision equipment that prioritizes on power quality and the stability of power supply, thus the equipment cannot be exposed to any forms of impact. In addition, advanced equipment requires more energy consumption as technology advances, and the machinery of major electricity users is almost on 24/7 operation, which leads to a continuous ascension in the power usage, thus the second emphasis for major electricity users is the reduction of electricity expenditure.
Gong Hong-hua, General Manager of Eaton Taiwan, commented that although the policy is able to expedite on energy transformation and the adoption of green power for enterprises, energy transformation has indeed become a global trend. In addition to the consideration of cost and investment, the biggest difficulty for semiconductor or tech firms in installing renewable energy equipment is the lack of land, and the alternative of purchasing certificates or voucher payment will not address the cause.
According to the existing solutions, an enterprise will have to purchase 1,250 sheets of renewable energy certificates each year which equal to approximately 125kWh of electricity, or spend NTD$5.075 million each year on vouchers based on the calculation of NTD$4.06/kWh.
The extensive application scenarios of the energy storage system include backup power, management of contracted capacity, management of time and electricity price, and the auxiliary service in frequency modulation, though the conversion time for the interruption of the energy storage system is usually between 30 and 200 milliseconds, where high-tech factories that emphasize on power quality are required for a rapid response of within 4 milliseconds.
On the premise that one is to fully utilize the existing equipment and satisfy the scarce land, Eaton wishes to install an uninterruptible power-energy storage system that is able to achieve peak shaving, earn discounts on the differences in electricity prices and the reduction in contracted capacity, and elevate economic benefits for users under the most restricted space, as well as assist TPC in electricity demand dispatch and the maintenance of the backup capacity allowance, in the hope of creating a win-win situation for the users and the government.
In the face of the imminent major electricity user clause, as well as the rapid return of Taiwanese entrepreneurs due to the Chinese-US trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic, Eaton will be reinforcing on the investment in Taiwan by establishing a power quality laboratory for high-tech factories in the country subsequent to the relevant establishment in the US, Finland, and China, in order to elevate local maintenance and service quality.
(Cover photo source: captured by TechNews)