TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —The Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced its plans to generate 6 gigawatts of geothermal energy by 2025 at the 2024 Taiwan International Geothermal Conference (TIGC) on Tuesday (Feb. 20).

Speaking at the forum, MOEA Deputy Minister Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said that renewable energy development is key to Taiwan’s energy transformation, CNA reported. Taiwan has rapidly developed solar and wind energy and will now focus on geothermal energy in the next phase, he said.

“Taiwan currently has 24 operational or in-development geothermal sites, mainly in areas such as Datun Mountain north of Taipei, Yilan’s Qingshui, and Hualien’s Ruisui, with a total installed capacity of approximately 61.75 MW,” Tseng said.

Tseng said power generation is estimated to have at least 20 MW enter commercial operation by 2025, with hopes of increasing tenfold within five years to reach 200 MW by 2030. By 2040, another tenfold increase is targeted to reach 2 GW, with the ultimate goal of achieving 6 GW by 2050, he added.

To accelerate the development of geothermal sites, Tseng said the MOEA will actively promote land use compensation in the new session of the Legislative Yuan, reported UDN. The Legislative Yuan will implement a mechanism of front-loaded rates to assist businesses in sharing upfront development costs, while also establishing a service platform for geothermal energy, he said.

“Taiwan has approximately one-third of the land available for use, with high land use intensity. Effective land management is therefore very important,” he stressed.

TIGC will run Feb. 20-21 at Kwo-Kwang Conference Hall. More information can be found here.