Third UK-Taiwan Energy Dialogue: A New Chapter of Collaboration on Renewable Energy
The Bureau of Energy (BOE) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), and the British Office Taipei co-hosted the Third Taiwan-UK Energy Dialogue online on 6 July. The meeting explored “carbon reduction policies” and “offshore wind power implementation policies.” It ended with a resolution to carry out “Taiwan-UK carbon reduction pathway cooperation in the energy sector” and organized an energy innovation workshop for the end of this year. At the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation on the Offshore Wind Power Industry, Technology and Information Exchange was signed between the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult), starting a new chapter on Taiwan-UK cooperation.
The Third Taiwan-UK Energy Dialogue was co-chaired by Cheng-Wei Yu, Director-General of the BOE under the MOEA, and Julie Scott, Head of Energy Diplomacy at the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Invited to participate were: the Industrial Development Bureau, the Bureau of Foreign Trade, the Environmental Protection Administration, the Maritime Port Bureau, the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, ITRI, the Taiwan Research Institute, the Metal Industries Research and Development Centre, BEIS, the UK’s Department for International Trade, Innovate UK, the British Office Taipei and ORE Catapult.
Director-General Yu remarked that Taiwan is a responsible member of the global community and echoing global climate action, it has set concrete energy transition targets and formulated a series of implementation plans and policies. One target is to have renewable energy reach 20% of Taiwan’s energy mix by 2025, and another is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. To achieve these targets, promoting offshore wind power is one of the main focuses of Taiwan’s current development of renewable energy. Taiwan and the UK can continue to deepen bilateral exchanges and technological cooperation, which will create multi-win benefits for the offshore wind power sector and policy development for both countries.
Ms. Scott said that she was happy to co-chair the meeting with Director-General Yu and welcomed the agreement to deepen the collaboration. She also welcomed hearing about Taiwan’s ambitious approach to achieving emissions reductions. By working closely together, sharing experience and expertise, Taiwan can better identify the right mix of policy solutions and new technologies to drive the zero-carbon energy transition.
Andrew Pittam, Deputy Representative of the British Office Taipei, stated that there are now 30 UK businesses set up in Taiwan to support Taiwan’s offshore wind sector development as it aims to become a hub for the Asia Pacific region. This commitment was clear at the dialogue and the signing of the MOU between the UK’s ORE Catapult and Taiwan’s ITRI. There is a natural appetite on both sides to deepen this collaboration to strengthen Taiwan’s local offshore wind power industry development via further research and innovation in the coming months.
As for the topic of “carbon reduction policies,” the British economist Aaron Tam shared a preliminary modeling result from Taiwan’s 2050 Net Zero Pathway, a joint project between the British Office Taipei and Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration. He pointed out that decarbonizing and transforming the power sector is one of the most important pathways to reaching net-zero carbon emissions in Taiwan. Taiwan and the UK could cooperate not only on offshore wind power, but also carbon capture and storage, low carbon manufacturing, and sustainable biomass energy.
Jen-yi Hou, Director of the Taiwan Research Institute, stated that since President Tsai declared Taiwan’s plan to transition to net-zero emissions by 2050, Taiwan has started evaluating and planning for feasible net-zero transition pathways, and that decarbonizing the energy sector will be the primary focus. Taiwan will promote renewable energy use and actively develop carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies.
Regarding government support, Chung-Hsin Chen, Director of the Energy Technology Division of the BOE spoke on “Taiwan’s offshore wind power implementation policies” and indicated that the nation is actively implementing its third phase of related land development, and will support market demand with steady development of installed capacity at a rate of 1.5 GW per year. In the period 2026-2035, a total of 15 GW is expected to be allocated, and based on the foundation of the second phase of site selection, Taiwan’s offshore wind power generation and overall industry will see long-term, stable, sustainable development.
On the topic of government-industry collaboration, Consultant David McIntosh of the UK’s Department for International Trade and expert Bruce Clements shared how the UK encouraged public-private cooperation and exchange via policies on the offshore wind sector. They also shared the UK’s experiences of incorporating port development policy into its energy development policy and revising relevant subsidy mechanisms. Soon, the UK will provide sufficient funding and government coordination to improve UK port infrastructure based on its Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.
To bring a perfect ending to the meeting, ITRI and the UK’s ORE Catapult joined hands in signing the MOU on Cooperation on the Offshore Wind Power Industry, Technology and Information Exchange, witnessed by Director-General Yu, Julie Scott, British Office Taipei Representative John Dennis, and ITRI president Edwin Liu.
Sources:The Bureau of Energy (BOE) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)
