Energy Transition
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The December 4 Vote: If the IMO's Net-Zero Framework Passes, Which Bill Does Taiwan's Shipping Industry and Kaohsiung Port Pay First?
The IMO did not adopt the Net-Zero Framework in 2025, and December 4, 2026 is only the scheduled date for resuming the extraordinary session — contingent on confirmation by MEPC 85. Taiwan has no vote at the IMO, yet it will still feel the outcome through flag-state and port-state enforcement, fuel procurement, freight rates, and shipper contracts. What Taiwan should pay first is not an as-yet-undetermined carbon price, but three preparation costs: data, a fuel evidence chain, and contract transparency.
Not Just a Power Shortage: Taiwan's AI Data Centers Still Have to Clear Siting, Grid Interconnection and Equipment
Taiwan's data-center constraint is not a binary choice between 'not enough electricity' and 'not enough parts.' Official data confirm that new applications above 5MW north of Taoyuan were once suspended from acceptance, that new or expanded facilities above 5MW must pass an energy-use review, and that the National Science and Technology Council is planning a 120MW Shalun computing center to come online in 2029; equipment lead times still have to be confirmed project by project with named suppliers.
AI Wants to Eat Taiwan's Electricity: How to Get Through Four Years of a Low Night-Time Reserve Margin
Taiwan is winning orders from around the world on the strength of AI, but AI and semiconductor expansion also eat electricity — Taipower estimates more than 5GW of new demand by 2030. The government's latest supply-and-demand report shows the night-time reserve margin running at 12.8%, 12.5%, 8.0% and 7.1% from 2026 through 2029. This is a long-term planning indicator, not a daily operating reserve figure; the real problem is that industrial expansion is running straight into a four-year window of thin night-time supply margin.
Hormuz Shock, Taiwan's Other Bill
The Strait of Hormuz was briefly blockaded, oil prices blew past $100 a barrel, and yet the price boards at Taiwan's gas stations barely moved. Don't relax just yet — that bill hasn't disappeared. It has just been hidden, given a different name, and set aside for a different time, before it comes back to find you.
The 2025 Check Already Bounced — Can Taiwan Still Make 2030? An Energy Transition Check-Up
Taiwan originally aimed for renewables to supply 20% of generation by 2025; the full-year actual came in at 13.3%. Offshore wind capacity, meanwhile, rose from 3.587GW at the end of 2025 to 4.8GW by June 2026. The 30% generation-share target for 2030 still stands, but the government has already added installed capacity as a rolling indicator alongside it. This is not a pro-nuclear vs. anti-nuclear shouting match — it is a math problem that requires carefully separating actuals, targets, and the terms in which each is measured.
Eleven Days: The Natural-Gas Buffer at the Center of Taiwan's Power Account
The natural gas that supported 47.7% of generation in 2025 has a safety stock of only about 11 days. With semiconductor- and AI-related industries expanding and nuclear power's share down to 1.1% — this is Taiwan's most fragile power account, laid out in full.