Taiwan Develops Offshore Wind Strategy

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration has approved a strategic environmental assessment for the development of offshore wind energy.

The government has pledged to increase the ratio of renewable power to 20 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation by 2025 to replace nuclear power. Wind power is expected to make up about 40 percent of that renewable energy production.

The review aims to clear the path for commercial-scale wind farms and identifies 36 sites with large offshore wind power potential.

Most proposed sites are off the coast of central Taiwan, and many include habitat of the critically endangered Chinese white dolphin. There are only about 60 white dolphins near Taiwan, and the review has determined that turbines cannot be installed within 500 meters of their habitat. Construction noise must be kept below 180 decibels.

The review states that offshore wind farms cannot be constructed near wetlands or ecologically sensitive areas, and local fisheries are another concern. Taiwan Environmental Protection Union secretary-general Chen Bing-heng has proposed that fishermen could become shareholders in the wind farms to reduce community resistance to their development.