ECCT Premium Event

Taiwan's future energy policy - Balancing costs, energy security and sustainability

Guest speaker
Dr. Liang Chi-yuan, Chairman, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research
梁啟源 董事長，中華經濟研究院

12:00 - 14:00, Wednesday, 14 January 2015
The Sherwood Taipei, Ching Room (3F)/ 台北西華飯店3樓 清廳
111 Min Sheng E. Road, Sec 3, Taipei/ 台北市民生東路三段111號

Oil prices have plummeted to multi-year lows following OPEC leaders' decision not to curb production on 27 November 2014. This is a double-edged sword. On the positive side, lower oil prices are good for consumers and manufacturers. On the negative side, they pose a severe challenge to high-cost producers (such as Russia and shale oil producers) while cheap oil reduces the incentive to decrease consumption and could set back global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

Balancing the demands of energy security, costs and sustainability will be very challenging for Taiwan. Lower oil prices will help Taiwan in the short term, given its dependence on fossil fuels imports for over 90% of its energy needs. However, they present a challenge both for Taiwan's long-term energy security and its international reputation. Cheap oil makes it difficult to foster a shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources, which is needed to reduce Taiwan's dependence on fuel imports, increase Taiwan's energy security as well as reduce its carbon emissions.

Taiwan authorities also have to address the issue of overall electricity capacity. In the summer of 2014, Taiwan's electricity reserve capacity dropped to a record low level of 5%. Following the halting of construction of the fourth nuclear power plant and with no other power plants set to come online in the next few years, Taiwan risks experiencing electricity black-outs and brown-outs during peak periods in future. Taiwan authorities have so far taken very little action to improve energy efficiency in the industry and building sector while official targets to reduce CO2 emissions and increase the use of renewable energy targets are very low by international standards, particularly compared to Europe. Meanwhile, programmes to increase the use of renewable energy to date have produced limited results.

To meet the challenges of providing a stable energy supply while at the same time improving Taiwan's sustainability will require comprehensive consultation and planning. Taiwan will hold a national energy policy conference at the end of January 2015 to discuss these issues. Our speaker will give his insights on what needs to be done to meet these challenges and ensure that Taiwan's future energy demands are met. Among other subjects he will talk about:

About the speaker
Dr Liang Chi-yuan (梁啟源 博士) is Chairman of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). He is also concurrently Chair Professor at National Central University; Adjunct Research Fellow for the Institute of Economics at Academia Sinica; Supervisor at Taiwan's Central Bank and Standing Director at China Petroleum Corporation. He is a specialist in energy, environmental and industrial economics and has worked as a researcher and advisor on a wide range of economic and environmental issues. Prior to his current positions he held a number of senior positions in government and academic institutions including Minister Without Portfolio; Senior Advisor to the National Security Council; Advisor to the Ministry of Economic Affairs; Committee member of the Arbitrage Committee on Public Hazard Conflicts for the Environmental Protection Administration and Professor at National Central University. He holds a PhD in economics from National Taiwan University.

Cost: NT$1,300 per member; NT$1,900 for members' guests

To cancel without penalty, written cancellations must be received at least 24 hours before the event.
Contact: Fiona Lee / Tel 2740-0236 ext. 215 / Fiona.lee@ecct.com.tw / www.ecct.com.tw