TAIPEI, Taiwan –The German Trade Office Taipei and the German
Offshore-Wind Initiative jointly organized the "4th Taiwan-Germany Wind Forum", held
on October 20th, 2022, during the Energy Taiwan Trade Fair. The forum connected
leading energy suppliers from Taiwan and Germany and provided a platform for
future cooperation in this fast-growing sector. Speakers include
representatives from well-known German and Taiwanese energy companies in
Taiwan, such as RWE, wpd, TÜV Süd, Aquila Capital, Enercon, and Fichtner, as
well as representatives of the Taiwan Climate Partnership and Taiwanese TAIYA
Renewable Energy.
The forum was
honored to have three distinguished guests deliver opening speeches: Mr. Axel
Limberg, Chief Representative and Executive Director of the German Trade Office
(GTO), Mr. Cheng-Wei Yu, Director General of the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of
Economic Affairs, and Dr. Martin Skiba, Representative of the German
Offshore-Wind Initiative. In Mr. Limberg's opening remarks, he was optimistic
about the success of the Taiwan-Germany exchange. He said, "Germany has
been working hard for 20 years to achieve the goal of climate neutrality by
2045. We are convinced that such fruitful exchanges can take Taiwan-Germany
relations to the next level based on bilateral trade and business opportunities
and the spirit of mutual assistance in resource development.
Mr. Limberg's
emphasized that "Taiwan and Germany are facing a similar challenge on
energy issues, namely how to accelerate the use of renewable energy." He
pointed out that Germany's relevant policies are already on track and believed
the cooperation between Taiwan and Germany will create more attractive business
opportunities and favorable market conditions for international companies.
The forum also
included two expert panels, moderated by Mr. Axel Limberg, the German Trade
Office Taipei's Chief Representative, and Mr. David Chiang, the German
Offshore-Wind Initiative's Taiwan representative. They led ten experts from
various industries and NGOs to discuss how to meet the renewable energy needs
of Taiwan's ambitions and the successful strategies for localizing Taiwan's
wind power industry.
Mr. Lu Mulin,
Chairman of TAIYA Renewable Energy, who was formerly the Political Deputy
Minister of Education, expressed his willingness to do his part in contributing
to Taiwan's energy transformation with the principle of dedication and
down-to-earth business philosophy at the panel discussion. Mr. Hendrik Bohne,
the representative of Aquila Clean Energy, not only considered it a commitment
to promote a sustainable future energy transition but also stated that for
Aquila, "Taiwan is its target market and aims to grow one of the largest
clean energy portfolios in Asia-Pacific region."
The companies
participating in the panel discussion also expressed their concrete commitment
to the field of renewable energy in Taiwan with figures and results. Ms. Weiwei
Tseng, General Manager, wpd Taiwan Energy, mentioned that wpd develops and
operates global onshore wind and solar projects by setting up 2,550 turbines
with an output of 5,740MW. It is dedicated to hitting the goal of energy
sustainability in converting energy supplies and contributing towards
protecting our climate in Taiwan. Mr. Sean Huang, Project Lead of RWE
Renewables Taiwan, said that RWE expects to invest NT$1.6 trillion (EUR50
billion) in its global green energy portfolio and reach 50GW installed green
generation capacity worldwide 2030, including the ~6GW greenfield offshore wind
projects currently under development in Taiwan. Mr. Bart Linssen, Managing
Director, ENERCON Taiwan, shared that Enercon is demonstrating the functional
performance of renewable energy with its latest wind turbine technology that is
relatively safe, quiet, and cost-effective. Dr. Alan Lin, Director and Head of
Emerging Business Opportunities of Advantech said that Advantech committed to
sourcing at least 50% of our power consumption from green energy by 2026 and
100% by 2032 in Taiwan.
In addition,
two experts were invited to give the introduction speeches from Dr. Chi-Ming
Peng, Secretary General of Taiwan Climate Partnership, and Ms. Angelica Oung,
Managing Editor of "Taiwan Offshore Wind Unredacted." The themes are
"Status Quo of Renewable Energy Development in Taiwan "and "The
Latest Offshore Wind Energy Development in Taiwan." Dr. Peng believes that
the public and private sectors must work together to achieve Taiwan's net-zero
goal. He explains that "Taiwan still lacks a carbon emission trading
mechanism with international links and various carbon reduction tools in the
carbon market. Although there is a partial green power trading system, the
capacity is low, and purchasing offshore wind power requires a credit rating
mechanism. Hence, most technology plants need to make up for this condition."