Wind energy helps cut CO2 emissions by 900,000 tons in Taiwan

Taipower’s 130 wind turbines that were installed over the last decade have generated 1.44 billion KWh of electricity and reduced carbon emissions by as much as 900,000 tons, the state-owned company said in a statement.

Taiwan’s lack of natural resources means that it has to rely on imports for 99 percent of its energy needs, the company said.

Therefore, Taipower said, it is continually working on energy conservation and carbon reduction in its efforts to develop renewable energy.

The company plans to install another 162 wind turbines by 2011, which will have a total capacity of 826 million KWh of electricity annually and will cut carbon emissions by 505,000 tons per year, according to the State Enterprise Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

In line with the government’s efforts to aggressively develop renewable energy, Taipower said, it has already completed three phases of a wind farm on the east coast of Taiwan and the outlying islands of Penghu and Kinmen.

The wind farm project costs around NT$18.7 billion and has a power capacity of 289 MW, Taipower said.

On Kinmen, the two wind turbines there went into operation in July this year with the expectation of delivering an estimated 11.4 million KWh of electricity to 2,800 households annually and reducing carbon emissions by around 9,353 tons per year, Taipower said.

In Yunlin County, 14 wind turbines are scheduled to begin operating at the end of September. They will deliver an estimated 79 million KWh of energy per year to 19,600 households and cut carbon emissions by about 34,152 tons annually, according to Taipower data.

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