Feed in Tariff in Taiwan – Wind Energy to be strangely Increased while for Solar Sensibly Decreased

Taiwan which had set a cap restricted solar feed in tariff program in 2009 is set to change the subsidies to reflect the decreasing costs of solar energy.Note Taiwan is one of the biggest solar cell producers in the world,next only to China.A number of its world class companies like TSMC and AUO have made major investments into solar energy recently.It already has big pureplay solar cells companies with Gintech and Motech amongst the top 10 world solar cell producing companies.A big domestic market is a good testing ground for new companies and technologies.Taiwan is now set to change renewable energy subsidies for wind and solar energy.Solar Energy subsidy for 2011 will be lowered while for wind energy it will be increased.

While the lowered costs of solar energy make lowering feed in tariffs sensible,increasing wind energy subsidies is a bit strange.Wind Turbine costs have declined dramatically over the last year with MingYang power reporting a 25% decrease in Wind Turbine ASP.Increase competition have led Vestas to fire expensive Danish workers while Gamesa another Wind Leader has been forced to restructure.The Report says that Wind Energy costs have increased in Taiwan which seems a bit strange considering the global scenario.

Taiwan May Lower Solar Power Feed-In Tariffs in 2011

The island may increase the payments to producers of wind power, whose costs are increasing, Su Jin-sheng, a director of Bureau of Energy, said in an interview in Taipei today. The government plans to announce the rates for 2011 before the end of the year, he said.

Feed-in tariffs, or the prices that state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. pays generators, are at least NT$11.12 (37 cents) per kilowatt-hour for photovoltaic solar panels and NT$2.38 for wind farms, the energy bureau said in a statement on its website in December last year. That compares with an average cost of NT$2.06 per kilowatt-hour for fossil fuels such as coal and oil.