The government is encouraging the establishment of offshore wind farms, as a critical component of the island's power grid, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said Friday.

Compared to dry land, where there is limited space that can be used for wind farms, Taiwan's surrounding waters are an ideal environment for wind power generation, because of the steady wind flow and the rare occurrence of turbulence there, according to a statement issued by the CEPD.

Under a project launched by the "Ministry of Economic Affairs" (MOEA) in September 2007, applications are being accepted until August 30 for the establishment of offshore wind farms, with total installed capacity of up to 300 megawatts (MW) allowed, the council said.

A one-stop counter has been set up under the MOEA to speed up the screening of the applications, which could involve a wide range of issues such as fishing rights, and environmental impact assessments.

Statistics from MOEA's Bureau of Energy show that there are 196 operational wind turbines, with total installed capacity of 372 MW around Taiwan. Another 132 wind turbines, with total installed capacity of 284 MW, are under construction.

According to the World Wind Energy Report 2009 released by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), worldwide installed wind power capacity reached 159.213 gigawatts (GW) in 2009, up 31.7 percent from the previous year.

The WWEA has predicted that global capacity will increase to 1,900 GW by 2020.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 05/15/2010 page4)