Cabinet touts new energy policies as cutting 10 million tons of CO2

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) The Cabinet proposed on Thursday different policies tailored for large power users, medium and small power users, and residential users, which it said could save 20.6 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) over four years -- equivalent to reducing carbon emissions by 10.18 million metric tons.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan's roughly 4,900 large power users, those that have signed electricity consumption agreements with Taipower reserving a basic capacity of 800 kilowatt (kW), use 157.6 billion kWh per year.

There are about 19,900 medium power users, with reserved capacity of 100 kW to 800 kW, and 1.33 million small power users with reserved capacity of less than 100 kW, and together they use up to 48.3 billion kWh per year.

If the measures are fully implemented, around NT$35.3 billion (US$1.09 billion) will be invested to implement energy-saving measures, with an estimated 20.6 billion kWh, saved from 2024 to 2027, the Cabinet said.

Large users, accounting for 60 percent of the power used by Taiwan's manufacturing sector, would be given incentives to be more energy efficient, said Energy Administration Director-General Yu Cheng-wei (游振偉).

For example, the ministry is currently reviewing Article 10-1 of the Statute for Industrial Innovation to determine whether energy-saving can be included as one of the items and be rewarded with income tax reduction credits, he added.

On the other hand, medium and small power users would be helped by the ESCO project, Yu said.

The Energy Service Company (ESCO) project, which is one of the current administration's energy policies, is to set up a financial mechanism targeted at helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) implement energy efficiency refrotting and management.

The ministry will first form a cross-agency team to help SMEs locate nodes that can be improved in terms of energy saving and introduce experts to assist with the dual transformation -- digital and green -- of these medium and small power users, and then connect them to a ESCO mechanism, the energy administration head said.

For residential users, subsidies will be provided to replace non-energy-efficient home appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators with energy-efficient ones, Yu said.

The policy of granting a total of NT$5,000 -- from tax refunds and subsidies -- for an energy-saving home appliance will continue, he said, expecting more than 7 million old appliances to be replaced by the end of 2026, he added.

Vice Economic Minister Lien Ching-chang (連錦漳) said around NT$10.1 billion has been provided for this policy from 2023, when it policy was launched, to this year.

The measure had been slated to end this July, but as the effect has been notable, Lien said, funding will continue and another NT$13.6 billion is to be earmarked for 2025 and 2026 for the replacement of about 4.08 million more appliances.