Taiwan's offshore wind development is currently experiencing literal and metaphorical rough sea conditions. Without adapting to the situation and adjusting policies accordingly, there is a risk of a further loss of market confidence and the relinquishing of Taiwan's position as a trailblazer in the Asia-Pacific region.

By Jason Wang and Raoul Kubitschek

Floating offshore wind will be essential for Taiwan to achieve its offshore wind energy goals but getting there will require the government and industry to resolve the administrative, infrastructure and financing challenges

By Jason Wang, Fredy Huang, Raoul Kubitschek and James McCatherin

Taiwan faces significant challenges in reaching its 2050 net zero emissions goal, including a lack of clear delivery plans, setting carbon emission prices too low, and the slow pace of preparations by the private sector.

By Jason Wang, Raoul Kubitschek, and James McCatherin

The debate around the need for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) often focuses on the staggering costs involved with such schemes, but as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics make an ever greater impact on labour markets we may have no alternative.

By Lee Faulkner

Results from the latest auction were disappointing and interim renewable energy targets will not be met but sensible policy adjustments could revive momentum.

By Jason Wang, Raoul Kubitschek and James McCatherin

While the first draft of rules for Round 3.2 of Taiwan's offshore wind auction brings much anticipated flexibility there is still a lot of room for improvement. Localisation items have been reduced but will factor even stronger in the awards for 2028 and 2029 – that can be up to 900MW for a single project.

By Raoul Kubitschek, Jason Wang and James McCatherin

The first batch of allocated projects for Taiwan's offshore wind Round 3.1 concluded at the end of June 2023 with two project owners having signalled that they signed administrative contracts by the deadline and three further project owners obtaining an extension of two months, until the end of August to find a solution to sign off. This will mean that the capacity of the first projects to be connected to the grid by 2026/27 will fall somewhere between 995MW and 2,335MW, short of the 3,000MW that had been awarded at the end of last year. Taiwan's shortage of renewables and the challenge of achieving its short and midterm net zero targets will thus continue. A timely Round 3.2 will offer a new opportunity to catch up by 2028/29 but there is still work to do to attract bidders.

By Jason Wang and Raoul Kubitschek

With a good head start in development, excellent location and growing talent pool, Taiwan has the potential to become the Asia-Pacific region's offshore wind energy hub, but action will be needed to maintain momentum and increase competitiveness

By Jason Wang, Raoul Kubitschek and James McCatherin