Taiwan is making a push in geothermal energy. On Monday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs launched a one-stop service window for geothermal energy investors. It also gave a preview of new policies and incentives designed to speed up development. ##

Wang Mei-hua
Economics minister
Geothermal energy is an important new power source for the future development of renewable energy. We provide a relatively high feed-in tariff for geothermal projects that are under development or have already been developed. However, geothermal energy is comparatively difficult to utilize because of the technology needed, capital investment, and, most importantly, the regulations involved.

The ministry said it would amend the Renewable Energy Development Act to simplify rules on geothermal energy development. It would also offer new purchase agreements and other incentives to encourage local governments to invest. Currently, there are already 24 geothermal projects underway at nine sites across the country.