Industry association head touts Japan as example for energy diversity

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) A local industry association head said Taiwan should learn from Japan in terms of how to utilize a variety of resources for electricity generation, including nuclear power, as future technologies are destined to consume much more power.

Thomas Wu (吳東亮), chairman of Taiwan's Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC), said on the sidelines of the 2024 Taiwan-Japan (Kyushu) Economic and Trade Forum in Taipei on Tuesday that one of the reasons Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) opened a plant in Kyushu is the location's access to power resources which include nuclear and hydroelectric power.

Wu was responding to a media inquiry about how he views the possibility of power consumption drastically increasing with the development of AI technology, given that nuclear power will no longer be part of Taiwan's power mix by 2025 if existing laws relating to the ongoing decommission of nuclear plants remain unchanged.

He suggested that the government should have experts estimate how much more electricity will be required to further develop artificial intelligence (AI).

On nuclear power, he said "when Kyushu Electric Power Chairman Michiaki Uriu came to last year's forum, he had some exchanges with [Vice Minister of Economic Affairs] Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生)," adding that Japan's experience could be used as a reference by Taiwan.

Uriu in a net-zero summit held in June 2023 by Taishin International Bank, which Wu chairs, said Kyushu Electric Power Co's strategy for reaching net zero is to utilize nuclear power to ensure energy diversity and security under the premise of safety, according to the-then local report.

In his opening remarks at Tuesday's forum, Wu said Kyushu, in addition to having comprehensive semiconductor industry clusters, has "stable, sufficient green power with a competitive price," making it a top choice for semiconductor companies to invest and set up factories.

CNAIC and the Kyushu Economic Federation started the exchange in 2008, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future cooperation in 2012, and has held forums focused on semiconductors and AI since 2022, said Wu.

"It took less than two years for JASM (Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc.), TSMC's joint venture in Kyushu, to build the fab in Kumamoto, which shows that cooperation between Taiwan and Japan in semiconductors is not only an economic engine for both countries but also a key for the two to excel in a world that is seeing impacts from great geopolitical changes and supply chain reshuffle," Wu said.

Taiwan's financial sector has also been brought to Kyushu by the TSMC-led investment, with E. Sun Bank recently opening a Fukuoka branch and a Taishin Fukuoka sub-branch set to open on April 23, he added.