Green energy boosts development in Lieyu

2014-10-24

A renewable energy trial launched last year in outlying Kinmen County’s Lieyu Township is delivering outstanding results, according to the Environmental Protection Administration Oct. 22.

“After just 12 months, the renewable energy, green transportation and energy conservation test bed has met most of Lieyu’s electricity needs and enhanced overall community development,” an EPA official said.

Under the six-year, NT$4.32 billion (US$144 million) interministerial project, solar power panels and wind turbines provide 70 percent of the electricity required by 15 households in the township’s Dong Keng community.

“We are producing 120 kilowatts of electricity per day, a level much higher than the 90 kilowatts required by the 15 families,” the official said, adding that the EPA will install electricity storage systems at 24 more households in the community as the trial enters second phase in 2015.

On the green transportation front, NT$50 gift vouchers are being provided to visitors renting electric scooters for use at 17 low-carbon local stores. To date, 1,200 electric scooters and vans are rented by tourists per month, a healthy number underscoring the potential of the initiative.

“We will continue our efforts to boost ecological living in Lieyu and consider expanding the trial throughout the archipelago and Taiwan proper,” the official said.

The 12 islands of Kinmen County are located nearly 280 kilometers west of Taiwan and less than 2 kilometers from Xiamen in mainland China.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=223175&CtNode=413)