In accordance with Article 12, paragraph 3 and 4 of the Renewable Energy Development Act: “When the chartered capacity on electricity consumption agreements signed by the user of electricity exceeds a certain capacity, the user shall install on their own or provide space to install renewable energy power generation and storage facilities with certain installed capacity or purchase a certain amount of electricity generated from renewable energy and a certificate; If the user fails to take actions according to the aforesaid regulations, the user shall pay monetary substitution to the competent authority for the purpose of the development of renewable energy.”–also known as the “major electricity consumer clause”–, “The aforesaid chartered capacity, certain installed capacity, certain amount, categories of the renewable energy power generation facilities installed, categories of storage facilities, payment of monetary substitution and calculation formula, schedule and other relevant matters will be stipulated by the central competent authority.”, the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced the draft of “Regulations Governing the Chartered Capacity on Electricity Consumption Agreements Which the Users Shall Install Renewable Energy Facilities for Exceeding a Certain Capacity” (“the Draft”) on August 24, 2020.
The key points of the Draft are as follows:
- The Draft applies to major electricity consumers whose contract capacity exceed 5,000 kilowatts (kW), but does not include government agencies and designated industries mentioned in Article 12 of the Draft.
- Major electricity consumers shall install renewable energy power generation with 10% of chartered capacity. Those who have installed renewable energy power generation before enforcement of the Draft may apply for installed capacity credits.
- Renewable electricity generated by major electricity consumers shall be used for self-consumption.
- Major electricity consumers who have installed renewable energy equipment in 5 years may apply for installed capacity credits.
According to the statistics, the number of affected users is only about 506, so the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs considers it would be easier to enforce the Draft. But NGOs criticize that the Bureau of Energy changes the definition of major electricity consumers by raising contract capacity threshold from 800kW to 5,000kW and narrows the scope of application of the Draft, and fails to meet the purpose of encouraging renewable energy use.
*For more details about “Regulations Governing the Chartered Capacity on Electricity Consumption Agreements Which the Users Shall Install Renewable Energy Facilities for Exceeding a Certain Capacity”, please refer to https://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/ECW/populace/news/Board.aspx?kind=3&menu_id=57&news_id=17678
