The MOEA stated that Taiwan's electricity price has to rise, and will hold an electricity price review committee on the June27th to decide on the rate of the domestic electricity price increase. Mathew Miao, the current chairman of the Chinese National Federation of Industries and chairman of MiTAC-SYNNEX Group, pointed out that rising and falling pricing is not what matters, instead Taiwan's electricity is a strategic issue. The way energy is developed in the future can determine the power supply structure and properly solve the electricity price problem.
Mathew Miao attended ITRI's "Taiwan 2050 Hydrogen Application Development Technology Blueprint Presentation" today. In an interview with the media, he state that there is a big difference depending on if the government’s adjustment of electricity pricing is a one-time action time or an ongoing increase. If this is only one-time, it just means Taiwan's electricity pricing is too low and must be adjusted. If price hikes continue, it means that in the future, even if the Russian-Ukrainian war is over, sanctions will not be rescinded and price inflation will continue to rise. Taiwan's electricity prices will inevitably continue to rise and the overall energy policy must be discussed.
Mathew Miao stated that the price of electricity should have risen in the past few times. This time, he was worried that Taipower and CPC would not be able to sustain the pricing level in the end. In addition to proposing the establishment of something similar to the prior "wheat balancing fund" where the government, Taipower, CPC, the industry, and consumers jointly contribute to establish a balancing fund for the electrical industry and everyone will share in the pressure of price increases, Miao feels it is time to review Taiwan's energy policy in a comprehensive manner. Mathew Miao asked whether it is actually possible to achieve the government's goal of increasing renewable energy to 60% by 2050?
He believes it would be best if Taiwan's energy can achieve 100% regeneration but, unfortunately, even if the sea were covered with offshore wind power and the land was covered with solar panels, that is impossible and so the government's energy policy must be pragmatically considered. At this stage, the government plans to use 50% natural gas energy. Not only does burning natural gas produce carbon dioxide but transporting and compressing natural gas into liquid and then gasifying liquefied natural gas also produces carbon dioxide. It was believed that burning natural gas was the most environmentally friendly because the awareness of environmental protection was less developed in the past.
Mathew Miao stated that, in fact, the cleanest energy source is nuclear energy but, since the government has ruled out nuclear energy, it should discuss how to carry out energy policy. In the future, the government will focus on natural gas. If all three referendums are passed, the burning of natural gas must be energy efficient and must achieve carbon reduction and environmental protection. The key lies in the application of hydrogen energy. After burning natural gas, the waste gas generated is recovered, and then a large amount of hydrogen is electrolyzed to supply hydrogen energy. This hydrogen energy is called "blue hydrogen", which is more suitable for current demand than the "green hydrogen" which is electrolyzed with additional electricity from water. Statistics show that domestic large-scale transportation vehicles consume 14% of energy. If these vehicles are replaced by hydrogen energy-powered vehicles, not only would their battery consumption be only one-tenth of electric vehicles, but long-distance transportation will also be maintained. Even one hydrogen refueling station in the north, middle, and south would be enough. Many Taiwanese technology companies can intervene and some companies have begun to cooperate with CPC and Taipower for development, which is a highly anticipated trend.