Taiwan - Wind turbines are a symbol of the nation's movement toward alternative energy

Wind ruffling his hair, Jeffrey Lee unlocks the gate of a bamboo fence surrounding two gigantic windmills, reads the meter and smiles. Wind speed is good and enough electricity is being generated by the turbines to power Cheng Loong Corporation's paper mill in the remote coastal area of Chupei, northern Taiwan. The 93m high, Denmark-designed windmills have generated about 20 million watts of electricity for the mill's use over the past two years, worth some NT$36 million (US$1.07 million).

Taiwan imports nearly all of its energy needs and projects like this are part of a nationwide effort to generate electricity from renewable sources, including hydraulic, wind and solar power. Like Asian neighbors such as China and the Philippines, Taiwan has awakened to the need for sustainable energy production, a need made more acute by recent spikes in global oil prices. In 2000 the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in 2000 decided to help fund investment in renewable energy in response to calls from conservation groups. Cheng Loong executives inaugurated the Chupei turbines, which have a combined capacity of 3.5 megawatts, in late 2002 at a cost of NT$115 million (US$3.43 million), with NT$50 million being subsidized by the government.

Cheng Loong's competitors had applied with the government for the acquisition of land on which hundreds of turbines will be built to create wind farms along the north and west coast of the island. "Some companies have displayed interest in investing in the wind power sector, but the government has not come up with strong incentives to woo the potential investors," Cheng Loong's Lee says. "That would put Taipower in an unfavorable position to raise funds from the capital market both here and abroad to continue with its investment projects," a Taipower spokesman says.