Overview 

Taiwan relies on imports for more than 97.73 percent of its energy needs. The island is implementing an energy transformation, with a goal of denuclearizing and achieving a power generation portfolio sourced 50 percent from gas, 27 percent from coal and 15 percent from renewables by 2025. To implement the energy transformation and nuclear-free homeland policy, Taiwan is building new liquified natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals, natural gas power generation fleets, solar and offshore wind power generation sites, and beginning to decommission the island’s nuclear power plants. 

Electric Power Equipment Market                                                                                      Unit: USD thousands

* Total Market Size = (Total Local Production + Total Imports) – (Total Exports) 

Sources: Total Local Production: Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs; Total Exports: Customs Administration, Taiwan Ministry of Finance; Total Imports: Customs Administration, Taiwan Ministry of Finance; Imports from U.S.: U.S. Census Bureau; Exchange rates: U.S. Treasury Department 

Leading Energy Equipment Sub-Sectors

• Combined-cycle natural gas-fired power generation equipment.
• Nuclear decommissioning and decontamination services and technology
• Liquified natural gas receiving tanks and regasification construction services (See Figure 1 below for more details about the above three leading segments) 

Leading Energy Equipment Sub-Sectors

• Offshore wind turbines and floating platforms
• Solar panels
• Power transmission, substation and grid-connection technology and equipment
• Energy efficient products 
• Geothermal and ocean energy power equipment 
• Battery storage technology and equipment 
• Smart grid and energy storage technology and products 
• Carbon capture, storage and utilization equipment and technology 

Export Opportunities 

Taiwan Power Company (TPC), Chinese Petroleum Company (CPC), and independent power producers (IPPs) are the main sources of procurement in the Taiwan energy equipment market. TPC, a state-owned trading enterprise, owns Taiwan’s national grid. CPC, a state-owned enterprise, is the main oil and LNG supplier in Taiwan. 

In the coming years, TPC will focus on replacing its coal-fired and oil-fired generators with LNG combined-cycle gas turbines and smart grids. IPPs that use coal fire generators will follow suit. Taiwanese demand for combined-cycle gas turbines in Taiwan will increase, creating an opportunity for U.S. exporters.  

Equipment procurement in Taiwan’s renewable energy market is dominated by IPPs. In this market, the most significant source of emerging demand will be for deep water (beyond 50-60 meters in depth) floating platforms for offshore wind turbines. Taiwan will have a 180 MW floating offshore wind demonstration project by the end of 2023. U.S. exporters are encouraged to partner with local offshore wind developers to bid on this project. In addition, Taiwan’s domestic geothermal and ocean power equipment supply chain is underdeveloped, creating a market opportunity for U.S. companies in this industry. To encourage investment in this area, Taiwan is offering preferential tariffs to energy equipment exporters in the geothermal and ocean energy space.  

To support the expansion of LNG power generation in Taiwan, CPC is expanding its LNG receiving and storage infrastructure. It is expected that CPC’s demands for LNG storage tanks and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services for LNG infrastructure will remain high in the coming years. TPC Hsieho Power Plant and Formosa Mai-liao Power Plant will have similar demand for LNG receiving and storage infrastructure. 

In March 2022, the National Development Council published Taiwan’s Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon Emission by 2050. According to the Environmental Protection Administration in the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s CO2 emissions are approximately 265 million MT per year. The energy sector is the main contributor to CO2 emissions. To reduce carbon emissions, the Taiwan energy sector will need carbon sequestration equipment and storage sites. Once storage sites in Taiwan are selected, the demand for carbon sequestration, storage, transportation, and EPC construction for CO2 storage will pick up quickly.

Taiwan’s 2019 Government Procurement Act (GPA) requires all official procurement entities and state- owned companies to publicize all procurements valued over NT$1 million ($30,110) on the Taiwan authorities’ e-procurement website. As a state-owned enterprise, all procurements released by TPC must be submitted to this website. 

Figure 1: Taiwan Power Company Power Generation Facility – Retiring & Adding Plan 

Installed Capacity