Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Geothermal energy looks promising for Taiwan

One of the countries that has plenty of room for further geothermal energy development is no doubt Taiwan. The recent reports suggest that this small Asian country has geothermal power potential in excess of 33,000 MW, which would be enough to satisfy the country's annual electricity demand if fully tapped.

However, Taiwan still needs to overcome many challenges, particularly technical bottlenecks, in order to seriously develop its geothermal energy potential. The current geothermal energy projects in Taiwan include  a 50-kilowatt grassroots geothermal demonstration plant, and a 1 megawatt geothermal pilot plant under construction.

Taiwan's Bureau of Energy remains optimistic that 150 megawatts of installed geothermal energy capacity could be achieved by 2025 by just using conventional techniques, with even more to come online using enhanced geothermal systems as the technology is likely to mature by then.

Many geothermal hotspots are located in national parks where drilling is prohibited, and this is another factor that needs to be considered when planning Taiwan's long term geothermal energy development goals.

The ongoing debate on nuclear power and its safety,  which currently provides around 20% of Taiwan's power, has shifted focus on other energy sources, especially after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

In this sense, geothermal energy certainly looks like one of the best possible options to replace nuclear and provide clean electricity for the country. The potential is certainly there, and is up to politics and technology to do the rest.

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