Premier Lai Ching-te today called a press conference to introduce the Executive Yuan’s strategy to address energy shortage issues and ensure a steady supply of electricity for continued economic growth and the everyday needs of the people of Taiwan. The government’s efforts will be guided by three policies: phasing out nuclear power, ensuring a stable supply of electricity, and improving air quality.

The first policy calls for realizing a non-nuclear homeland by 2025. The Electricity Act already stipulates that all nuclear generating facilities in Taiwan be shut down no later than 2025 and decommissioned according to schedule. The second policy will ensure the steady supply of electricity by maintaining a reserve margin of at least 15 percent and an operating margin of at least 10 percent. The third policy of improving air quality will rely principally on adjusting power generation to reduce air pollution in response to regional air quality indices.

A number of specific implementation strategies will help achieve these three policies objectives, including plans to increase electricity supply through a diversity of sources, a proactive nationwide energy conservation program, and flexible power generation and smart-tech conservation.

Explaining in further detail the plans to increase supply through a diversity of sources, Premier Lai said that additional capacity will be realized by improving standard operations and maintenance at existing sites, as well as ensuring the on-time and on-spec completion of new generating facilities. In addition, renewable energy resources will be expanded to achieve a renewables ratio of 20 percent of total capacity by 2025. Rooftop solar panels will play a large role in such efforts, with capacity expected to hit 3 gigawatts by 2025. Thanks to the government’s promotion of a nationwide project to encourage industry, businesses and residents to install rooftop solar panels, it is hoped that this 3 gigawatt goal may even be reached as early as 2020. The Renewable Energy Development Act will also be amended to require large energy customers to purchase a specific proportion of their power from renewable sources.

As part of the nationwide energy conservation program, inspectors will track power consumption by large customers with the goal of reducing their electricity usage by an average 1 percent per year from 2015 through 2019. Minimum Energy Performance Standard labels will also be applied to common appliances to prompt consumers to select more energy efficient products.

In promoting flexible power generation and smart-tech conservation, the government will strengthen demand-side management measures, and adjust the types of fuels used by fuel-fired generators to reduce air pollution as necessary in different regions. An advanced metering infrastructure campaign has also been launched with the goal of installing low-voltage smart meters in 200,000 homes and businesses by 2018, 1 million by 2020, and 3 million by 2024.