The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) today launched the "Taiwan Renewable Energy Industry Challenges - Best Practice Report for Stakeholder Engagement and Permitting". The report offers insights and recommendations on ways to improve engagement with various stakeholders involved in renewable energy projects in Taiwan as well as the permitting process. The report was produced by the ECCT Wind Energy Committee’s Stakeholder Engagement Best Practices Working Group, comprising 33 industry experts from 27 local and international companies and organisations. The report was launched by members of the Wind Energy committee to fellow chamber members and invited guests of honour from government at a lunch event today. Government officials attending the launch were Dr Chen Chung-Hsien, Director, Renewable and Prospective Energy Development Division, Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA); Su Jin-sheng, Director, Office of Energy & Carbon Reduction, Executive Yuan and Tsai Meng-Yu, Director, Department of Environment Protection, Ministry of Environment.  

Taiwan has made progress over the past decade in developing renewable energy projects. Moreover, Taiwan’s Renewable Energy Development Act (as amended in 2019) enshrined into law a target of 27GW of renewable energy capacity by 2025. However, clear milestones to meeting this goal have been missed and targets have been adjusted downwards. Industry leaders have noted that, amongst other challenges, the lack of robust standards and best practices for stakeholder engagement in the Taiwanese market on top of overly complicated permitting procedures, perpetuates market risk and is detrimental to Taiwan’s overall energy transition.

Based on a thorough analysis of Taiwan’s market and current regulatory environment, the report identifies and summarises the challenges faced by the industry, examines the best international practices, standards, and associated academic research to provide concrete recommendations aimed at expediting green energy development in Taiwan. Among other recommendations, the report advocates for more robust guidelines and resources for stakeholder engagement in Taiwan, which includes a clear definition of who is and who is not a stakeholder and a well-defined stakeholder engagement process. It stresses that a robust and comprehensive stakeholder engagement process should be integral to planning, execution and operation of renewable energy projects.

Findings from the report also indicate that a lack of clarity, objectivity, and efficiency at certain points of the permitting processes have exposed projects to greater risk, affected the ability of projects to be completed on time and damaged the perception of the Taiwan market in the eyes of international investors. Amongst other recommendations, the report advocates for clearer guidelines and additional streamlining within permitting processes for renewable energy projects, drawing on the best practices in countries such as the UK, Denmark and Germany. 

The ECCT continues to reiterate that a successful green energy rollout is in the best interests of the general public, government and industry. It is therefore imperative that the public and private sectors work together in a proactive and objective manner in order to realize their shared objectives. By launching this report, the ECCT’s objective is to promote constructive dialogue among stakeholders from government, political parties, and the general public aimed at fostering collaboration between the private and public sectors to address current challenges and achieve the common goals of expanding and expediting Taiwan’s renewable energy rollout so that Taiwan can realize its energy and net zero goals.

臺灣歐洲商會強調利害關係人參與再生能源專案的重要性

歐洲在臺商務協會（European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan; ECCT）今天發表了《臺灣再生能源產業之挑戰:利害關係人溝通與許可最佳實務報告》（Taiwan Renewable Energy Industry Challenges - Best Practice Report for Stakeholder Engagement and Permitting）。該報告由歐洲在臺商務協會風能委員會之下的利害關係人工作小組編寫製作，該工作小組由來自 27 家國內外公司及組織的 33 名產業專家組成，就如何改善臺灣再生能源專案之許可流程和利害關係人溝通，提出分析和建議。在今天的午餐會上，風能委員會成員向商會會員和政府嘉賓分享了該報告的重點。出席該會議的政府官員包括經濟部能源署再生與前瞻能源發展組陳崇憲組長、行政院能源及減碳辦公室蘇金勝主任、經濟部綠能科技產業推動中心鄭亦麟副執行長以及環境部環境保護司蔡孟裕司長。

過去十年，臺灣在發展再生能源專案上獲得重要進展。此外，臺灣2019年修訂的「再生能源發展條例」，將在2025年前推動再生能源容量達到 27 GW 之目標納入法條中。然而，2024年當前，臺灣卻未能達成且下修上述目標。產業業者指出，除了其他產業挑戰外，臺灣綠能市場在利害關係人參與再生能源專案上，缺乏健全的標準和最佳實務範例可參考，加上過於複雜的許可流程，不但增加市場風險，更不利於臺灣能源轉型。

基於對臺灣市場和當前法規環境的透徹分析，報告總結了該產業所面臨的挑戰，並研究國際最佳實務範例、標準和相關學術報告，提出了協助加快臺灣綠能發展的具體建議。報告還建議主管機關應為臺灣再生能源專案中的利害關係人溝通，提供更強有力的指導方針和資源，包括明確定義利害關係人，以及利害關係人參與再生能源專案的流程。該報告強調，再生能源專案的規劃、執行和運營過程中，有效的利害關係人溝通應貫穿整個專案生命週期。

該報告的研究結果還表明，由於許可流程的某些環節缺乏清楚詮釋、客觀性和效率，導致相關專案面臨更大的風險，影響了專案準時完成的時程，以及國際投資者對臺灣市場的評估。報告還主張借鑒英國、丹麥和德國等國的最佳實務範例，在再生能源專案許可流程中制定更明確的指導方針，並進一步簡化流程。

歐洲在臺商務協會重申，成功推廣綠色能源，符合公眾、政府和行業的最佳利益。因此，公私部門必須以積極客觀的態度攜手合作，以實現共同目標。歐洲在臺商務協會出版該報告的目的是促進政府、政黨和公眾利害關係人之間進行建設性的對話，以促進公私部門間的合作，應對當前的挑戰，實現擴大和加快臺灣再生能源推廣的共同目標，進而達成臺灣的能源和淨零目標。