Taipower to harness Changhua sea winds
Taiwan Power Company plans to set up wind turbines off the coast of Changhua County, Taipower Chairman Edward K.M. Chen said Feb. 5.
Wind and solar power are the most feasible forms of renewable energy for Taiwan, considering their viability and profitability, Chen said, adding that Taipower has invested NT$20.7 billion (US$645 million) in developing wind power projects.
Taipower has completed its first phase of wind power projects, with the second and the third phases in progress. A total of 162 wind power generators are expected to be ready for use by the end of 2011, capable of generating 289 million watts of power. The company is now planning the fourth phase and the offshore wind power site off Changhua.
Taipower is moving cautiously on the offshore plants, because Japan has seen its offshore turbines destroyed by typhoons in the past, Chen said. Smaller-scale wind power generators will test the waters before the firm invests more capital in large-scale offshore wind turbines.
Meanwhile, Taipower is also developing solar power, which currently costs as much as NT$12 per kilowatt-hour to generate, said Chen. Many other companies have also invested much effort in solar energy research and development, he noted, thus generation costs are expected to be halved in five to ten years, making solar energy a competitor of fossil fuel energy.
Taipower has invested NT$2 billion in the first phase of its solar power projects, in the hopes of generating ten million watts by the end of 2011. The solar energy project on the Yongan salt flats in Kaohsiung County, the largest in Taiwan, is expected to generate 4,636 kilowatts upon its completion late next year. (KL-THN)
(This article originally appeared in “The Commercial Times” Feb. 6, 2010.”)
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