Open Energy

Graphics and content / Energy System Analysis Research Group, RSPRC, National Taiwan University
Translator / Jo-Shih Chiu 

 

1. Energy consumption trends in Taiwan

• The total energy consumption in 2017 is approximately 117 million KLOE, which has decreased by 0.26% from 2016; while the energy intensity is 7.20 LOE/Thousand NT$, which is an improvement of 2.77% from 2016 (Bureau of Energy, 2018a).
• Except for the Industrial sector, the energy consumption of all other sectors is lower than it was in 2016, among which the reduction rates of Non-energy use sector and Residential sector are the highest. In terms of the growth (reduction) contribution of energy consumption,^[1] the Non-energy consumption sector and Transportation sector contributed the most for the reduction of energy consumption (refer to Table 1).^[2]
• Industrial sector: The energy consumption has increased by 0.82% from the previous year.
• The energy consumption of “Computer peripherals and audiovisual electric products manufacturing industry (electronics industry)” has hit a record high and increased by 2.99% from the previous year, which is catching up with the high energy-intensive “Chemical material manufacturing industry” in terms of energy consumption, and becoming the force driving the growth of Industrial sector’s energy consumption (Bureau of Energy, 2018c).
• Taking a closer look at the Industrial sector by its energy consumption category, one may find the consumption of both coal and petroleum products has fallen to record lows over the past five years, while the consumption of natural gas and electricity has reached record highs, evidencing the conversion trend of energy use to natural gas and electricity in Industrial sector (Bureau of Energy, 2018d).
• Service sector: The energy consumption has decreased by 0.26% from the previous year. The energy consumption of Industrial and commercial service industry, Accommodation and food service industry, and Warehousing and storage industry has the largest growth rate;while the reduction rates of energy consumption with regard to Finance, insurance and real estate industry, Wholesale and retail sales industry, and Public administration, are the highest (Energy, 2018e).

 

 

2. The proportion of power generation structure and renewable energy generation types in Taiwan in 2017

• The proportion of LNG-Fired has reached the new high of 35%, while nuclear power has accounted for the proportion of 8% , which is the lowest over the past 35 years (refer to Figure 1).
• Since the overhaul of the First Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 1 reactor at the end of 2014, and of the Second Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 2 reactor in May 2016, the two nuclear power plants have never operated in parallel till the end of 2017. The nuclear power generation has largely reduced in 2017 due to the following reasons: In June of 2017, the First Nuclear Power Plant’s electricity transmission tower was toppled by heavy rain, causing the First Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 2 reactor to go offline (later it was shut down again due to the spent fuel rod pool being full). In addition, the Second Nuclear Power Plant’s cask loading pool underwent a major conversion which had an effect on the operation of the No. 1 reactor; also the delay of annual maintenance of the Third Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 2 reactor impacted the power generation. This nuclear generation shortfall was made up mainly by natural gas and coal power.
• Along with the decrease of hydroelectric power generation, the proportion of renewable energy generation has slightly dropped comparing to 2016; while the combined generation of solar and wind power has accounted for a record high of 1.2% of the total power generation. However, the renewable energy generation has reached only 75% of the 2017 target, the biggest difference comes from the solar power generation, which is 700 million kilowatt-hours less than the target generation.

 

 

3. Trends of electricity consumption and its peak load in Taiwan

• Although the total energy consumption in 2017 is slightly lower than it was in 2016, the electricity consumption has grown by 2.32%, which is higher than the average growth rate of 1.4% over the past five years. There is a significant gap between the actual growth rate and the Energy transition goal to be achieved by 2025, which states that the growth rate of annual electricity consumption shall not exceed 0.7%.
• The electricity consumption of each sector has all increased in 2017, among which the electricity consumption of Own use of energy sector, Transportation sector and Agricultural sector has grown the most, and the growth rate has significantly improved to less than 1% for the electricity consumption of Service sector and Residential sector in comparison with 2016. In terms of the growth contribution of electricity consumption, Industrial sector has been the main source of contribution for the growth. (refer to Table 2).
• The peak load in 2017 has increased by 1.6% from 2016,^[3] while the growth rate of peak load is lower than it was in 2016. The main reason may be that the demand bidding measures implemented during the peak days have effectively reduced 312MW, which is 80% better than the reduction of 174MW in 2016. Besides, the maximum reduction has reached 866MW, which is higher than the power generation capacity of a coal-fired power plant (Yang, 2017).

 

 

• Industrial sector:
  • The growth rate of electricity consumption is 3.14%, which is higher than the 1.6% of the previous year, mainly because the electricity consumption of those energy users with contract capacities higher than 800 kW has significantly increased. Nevertheless, given that both the number of users with contract capacities higher than 800 kW and less than 800kW reduced in 2017 from 2016, which indicates that the average electricity consumption of industrial sector’s users has been growing in 2017 (Taiwan Power Company, 2018a).
  • If we look into the electricity consumption of each industry, we may find that it has decreased only in Textile and clothing industry, and has increased in all other industries, among which the electronics industry, Metal basic industry and Chemical material manufacturing industry have the largest growth rate (Bureau of Energy, 2018h).

• Service sector:
  • If the electricity consumption of government agencies is included, then the growth rate is 0.68%; while the growth rate would be 1.09% if the electricity consumption of government agencies is excluded. This shows that Public sector still contributes the most for the reduction of electricity consumption in this sector (Bureau of Energy, 2018g; Taiwan Power Company, 2018b).
  • The growth rate of electricity consumption of energy users with contract capacities higher than 800 kW has significantly reduced from 1.88% in 2016 to -0.2% in 2017, while the users with contract capacities less than 800kW have the growth rate of electricity consumption of 1.05%, and the growth rate of small business companies has been 1.84%. Taking into consideration its growth rate of electricity consumption and its consumption share in this sector, it is necessary to promote and implement electricity-saving measures in small and medium business organizations (refer to Table 3).

 

 

4. Trends of coal-fired power generation and gas-fired power generation in Taiwan by year

• The growth of coal-fired power generation has been slowing down and becoming flat since 2007, while the gas-fired power generation has been significantly increasing to the extent of almost catching up the coal-fired power generation from 2015 to 2017 (as shown in Figure 2).
• In 2017, the generation of coal-fired and gas-fired power (excluding combined heat and power) both hit the record highs, this is because the demand of electricity has largely increased in the year (growth rate of electricity consumption: 2.3%, i.e. 5.93 billion kilowatt-hours more than 2016).

 

 

5. Comparison of coal-fired power and gas-fired power generation of the last two smoggy seasons (excluding combined heat and power)

• The Environmental Protection Administration has revised the “空氣品質嚴重惡化緊急防制辦法 (Emergency Control Regulations on the Serious Deterioration of Air Quality)” in 2017, the Taiwan Power Company cooperated with the authorities by reducing coal-fired power generation to tackle the air quality deterioration, and made up the shortfall by gas-fired power generation. However, due to the year-on-year rise of electricity demand during the period of October 2017 to February 2018, the growth of gas-fired power generation during the smoggy season has been approximately three times as much as the decline of coal-fired power generation (as shown in Figure 3).

 

 

6. Growing trends of electric vehicles in Transportation sector

• Motor vehicles (including large freight trucks, small freight trucks, large passenger vehicles, small passenger vehicles and special purpose vehicles):
  • In 2017, the growth rate of the number of motor vehicles in Taiwan is 1.36%, i.e. an increase of about 106,000 motor vehicles. With regard to small passenger vehicles, there has been a slight rise of the proportion of low-carbon fuel vehicles (natural gas vehicle, electric vehicle, and hybrid electric vehicle) to 1.6% from 1.5% in 2016, while the number of battery electric vehicles has increased by 112% from last year (i.e. an increase of 824 vehicles, among which 761 battery electric small passenger vehicles has been increased), and nearly 9,000 hybrid electric vehicles has been increased. On the whole, electric vehicles have accounted a very small proportion.
  • According to the report of UN’s International Resource Panel in 2017, it is found that the promotion of electric vehicles in countries whose coal-fire power generation accounts for more than 70% of generation, would instead worsen the air pollution (IRP, 2017). Given that the current proportion of coal-fired power generation in Taiwan is around 45% to 47%, the promotion of electric vehicles may be helpful to mitigate the air pollution. Last year, the Executive Yuan announced the schedule of electrification of street vehicles, which is to put a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel motorbikes by 2035, and ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. However, there is no specific policy formulation, timetable and supporting measures. There is an urgent need of cross-ministerial collaboration, to explicitly put the electric vehicle-related schedule into law, and to offer more financial inducements, prioritized right-of-way, and infrastructures such as charging stations.
• Motorbikes:
  • In 2017, the growth rate of the number of motor vehicles in Taiwan is 0.64%, i.e. an increase of about 87,000 motorbikes, among which the number of electric motorbikes has grown from 72,000 to 114,000 (i.e. an increase of 42,000 motorbikes). One may find that the electric motorbikes have accounted for 48% of the newly registered motorbikes in 2017, and the proportion of electric motorbikes has grown from 0.53% to 0.83%.
  • The numbers of newly registered electric motorbikes are in order: Taoyuan City (10,186), Kaohsiung City (6,020), Taichung City (5,787), Taipei City (5,714), New Taipei City (5,149) and Tainan City (3,494), showing some success in promoting electric motorbikes, but the effect has been limited and mainly happened in the six municipalities.

 

 

Reference

1. Taiwan Power Company (2018a). Information on Industrial Consumption of Power in Counties and Cities. Retrieval Date: 31 January 2018.
2. Taiwan Power Company (2018b). Information on Residential and Commercial Consumption of Power in Counties and Cities. Retrieval Date: 31 January 2018.
3. Taiwan Power Company (2018c). Net Electricity Produced and Purchased, and Electricity Sold. Retrieval Date: 21 March 2018.
4. Ministry of Transportation and Communication (2017). Statistics Inquiry Website. Retrieval Date: 26 February 2018.
5. Bureau of Energy (2018a). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Energy Index.
6. Bureau of Energy (2018b). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Domestic Energy Consumption (by Sector)_by Year.
7. Bureau of Energy (2018c). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Energy Consumption of Industrial sector (by Industry)_by Year.
8. Bureau of Energy (2018d). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Energy Consumption of Industrial sector (by Energy)_by Year.
9. Bureau of Energy (2018e). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Energy Consumption of Residential and Service sector_by Year.
10. Bureau of Energy (2018f). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Power Generation_by Year.
11. Bureau of Energy (2018g). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Electricity Consumption_by Year.
12. Bureau of Energy (2018h). Monthly Report of Energy Statistics, Electricity Consumption of Industrial sector_by Year.
13. Yang, C.K. (2017). How Do Energy Service Companies (ESCO) Effectively Promote Demand Response Plan. Association of Power and Energy Engineering in Taiwan. Retrieval Date: 23 March 2018.
14. IRP (2017). “Green Technology Choices: The Environmental and Resource Implications of Low-Carbon Technologies.” Suh, S., Bergesen, J., Gibon, T. J., Hertwich, E., Taptich M. A report of the International Resource Panel. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieval Date: 2018/01/31