Ørsted sets a very proactive goal. By 2025, we will reach carbon neutrality with all our production processes, and by 2040, we hope to reach carbon neutrality of the entire Ørsted supply chain. We don't have much time left, as humanity’s actions in the next 20 years will concrete the future of our civilization. It is essential to be more proactive in achieving carbon emission reduction and net-zero goals. As part of the energy industry, we are obligated to take action for net-zero developments.
Embrace the Net-Zero with the World_Interview with Christy Wang, Chairperson & General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan Limited
Embrace the Net-Zero with the World_Interview with Christy Wang, Chairperson & General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan Limited
Publish time： 2022-07-28
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Christy Wang, Chairperson & General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan Limited
By Xin-En Wu, Mei-Hsu Shih
On May 4th this year, Ørsted Taiwan Limited (hereinafter referred to as Ørsted) announced its collaboration with Penghu Marine Biology Research Center for the "ReCoral by ØrstedTM", the first-ever coral reproduction feasibility research project in the world, which will be conducted along the Taiwan Strait this summer. "This will be the best demonstration site of co-existence and co-prosperity of green energy and the environment," affirmed Christy Wang, the Chairperson & General Manager of Ørsted Taiwan Limited. Ørsted will prove its determination for environmental sustainability by taking the initiative.
Environmental sustainability Initiating the coral reproduction feasibility research project
Starting from 2020, the biologists and marine researchers of Ørsted proposed the idea of "the feasibility of coral reproduction" together with coral experts in the industries and academia. The purpose of the innovative experiment is to conduct a feasibility study of coral reproduction in the completed OWF sites. "The project is already ongoing for a while. During the coral season around June to August every year, some extra coral eggs will be washed to the shores," Wang explained. "We use a non-invasive approach to collect the overflowing coral eggs and move them to the upper steel structure of the foundation simulating the underwater environment for the corals to grow and see if the coral larvae can attach to the structure."
The Ørsted team successfully cultivated juvenile corals for the first time in 2021 in a laboratory of Penghu, using artificial structures with the same steel and concrete for the jacket foundation. As the preliminary results have been very positive, Ørsted enters the next stage of the project immediately. "In June, we collect the coral eggs by the seashore of Penghu and place them at four foundations in Greater Changhua 1 - South East offshore wind farm, near the transition piece at the upper end of the jacket, where it's undersea but near to the sea surface. Special considerations are also given to the selected coral species since some grow faster or are larger, which may affect the stability of the jacket," Wang elaborated. "As a result, our foundation design and construction teams have conducted numerous technical pieces of research at the early stages and have communicated it to the stakeholders, hoping that the success of this demonstration project can be systematically expanded to future sites on larger scales." If the feasibility study on coral reproduction succeeds and can be further promoted, the innovative project initiated by Ørsted will create a crucial and positive influence on the diversity of marine biology.
Proactive carbon reduction with pioneering goals
"As part of the energy industry, we are obligated to take action for net-zero developments!" Wang emphasized that there is not much time left, as humanity's actions in the next 20 years will concrete the future of our civilization. It is essential to be more proactive in achieving carbon emission reduction and the net-zero goal.
The net-zero goal set by Ørsted is far ahead of the goals set by the world. "We've set very proactive goals! By 2025, we will reach carbon neutrality with all our production processes, and by 2040, we hope to reach carbon neutrality of the entire Ørsted supply chain," Wang noted.
How will Ørsted achieve all this? Wang explained that Ørsted applies scientific calculation as the basis to set the goal of reduction, including all the scope of the full production line, and precise calculations were conducted for scope I, II, and III respectively. The premise is that as a green energy producer, Ørsted is committed to improving capacity regarding the supply of green energy and hopes to provide affordable clean energy options for enterprises and people to achieve the mission of overall social carbon reduction and net-zero transformation.
In addition to the carbon emission reduction goals, the expansion of green energy construction is another proactive action being planned. Wang indicated that Ørsted set a goal of constructing renewable energy with the capacity reaching 50GW by 2030. Among them, 30 GW is from offshore wind power, 17.5 GW is from onshore solar and wind power, whereas the rest may be supplied by other renewable energy options to be tested, including hydrogen and biomass energy. With the expanded scale in green energy supplies, Ørsted aspires to contribute actively to carbon emission reduction and fighting global climate change.
While constructing a vast amount of green energy facilities and other relevant solutions, the environmental, social, and economic benefits must also be taken into account. Wang further explained that developers are always looking for a balance among the different aspects when managing comprehensive planning. As mentioned above, the installation of wind farms is to supply green energy, yet sources of green energy may affect the ecological environment or marine biology, which is why alleviation strategies or even more proactive approaches to ensure biodiversity must be applied to reach the balance between the environment and green energy construction. In this regard, Ørsted has also taken the lead in setting a target, promising that from 2030 onwards, all new renewable energy programs in the world will achieve "net positive benefits" for biodiversity.
I believe we could overcome the current global supply chain challenges, maintain the downward trend of reasonable prices of green electricity, and make green electricity more affordable to enterprises and the public if Taiwan continues to improve the existing wind farm bidding system, including increasing the development capacity of the single offshore wind farm. Take the trading parties in the European electricity market, most of the small and medium-sized enterprises will purchase green electricity through retail or third-party intermediary markets. We expect to have a more complete and flexible electricity market in Taiwan.
The sustainable development of the green electricity market requires a compound recipe from the power generation side to the trading side
"When I joined the offshore wind industry in 2017, few people were optimistic about the offshore wind development, and they also had some doubts about whether the wind farm project could be executed. No one was confident in offshore wind development until we signed the first CPPA in Taiwan. Coupled with the promotion of carbon reduction and net zero in recent years, gradually people have a different mindset and perspectives regarding green energy and sustainability. Companies are also considering green electricity purchases as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, which is a very positive development.”
With the government and industry working together over the past few years, Taiwan has taken a crucial first step. "I believe we could overcome the current global supply chain challenges, maintain the downward trend of reasonable prices of green electricity, and make green electricity more affordable to enterprises and the public if Taiwan continues to improve the existing wind farm bidding system, including increasing the development capacity of the single offshore wind farm. Take the trading parties in the European electricity market, most of the small and medium-sized enterprises will purchase green electricity through retail or third-party intermediary markets. We expect to have a more complete and flexible electricity market in Taiwan," Wang indicated.
"Many people use the zero-subsidy bidding model in Germany to compare with the projects here in Taiwan, but the reason for zero-subsidy bids being realized in Germany is exactly because of the support from a free energy market. In that case, if CPPA fails, there are other energy markets to perform trades, and an active and free trading market can solve the related risks," Wang said.
The most crucial point for CPPA is the buyer's credit assessment. Buyers should be able to buy large amounts of green energy for a long period. In the current market, there are only a few buyers who are the major green energy purchasers. It's natural that flexibility will bring more room for developers to think about suitable business strategies other than signing CPPA with large companies. To solve the bottleneck encountered by small and medium-sized enterprises in green electricity procurement, multi-party communication and coordination are needed to make the electricity market more efficient to meet the needs of different users and meanwhile implement the national carbon reduction and net-zero transformation goals at the same time.
Wang pointed out that it requires a comprehensive thinking mindset to design a wind farm bidding system to develop more affordable green electricity and strike a balance between the government and the market. All relevant stakeholders, competent authorities, and industries must also act to solve present problems and the concerns of the industries, earning the chance for further development. The cultivation of an active energy trading market relies on the creation of a fair and free development environment supported by relevant entities.
Path to net zero
New technologies and creativity are the best approaches
"The goal for net-zero transition has become the world trend. Although Taiwan has now set an ambitious and nearly impossible goal, it's still better than having no goals at all." Based on the experiences of transition of Ørsted, Wang offered some suggestions and expresses her anticipation regarding Taiwan's declaration of a net-zero goal.
Wang indicated that Ørsted had stated its goals to transition from using 85% of fossil fuel power to 85% of renewable energy around 2009 or even earlier. Back then, even the staff felt that it was an impossible task that would take decades to achieve that goal. In the end, Ørsted succeeds in less than 15 years, but why? Because the development of new technologies and techniques has enabled large-scale green energy generation processes that are affordable. "If we compare our case with Taiwan's promotion of net-zero transition, it may seem extremely challenging at first, but with the development of new technologies and resources, adding with inspiring creativity of the hardworking people, a solution will always be discovered under the collaboration of all parties."
Wang also suggested the government shift from the perspective of "regulation" to "policy incentive" to encourage technological innovations. "For example, when green energy reaches 60% of the energy production in Taiwan, what challenges will we encounter? The government can carry out some demonstration projects of technology R&D to see if the latest energy solutions can be applied to the current and the future green energy shortage," Wang noted. "For example, Ørsted has launched several demonstration programs for renewable hydrogen in Europe, with the aim of providing low-carbon energy or fuel options for industries that cannot meet carbon reduction targets with green electricity merely, such as steelmaking, chemicals, shipbuilding, and transportation."
Thus, the demand for more green hydrogen production is a critical bottleneck. Based on Europe's experience, the government's resources, R&D projects, demonstration projects, and even subsidies, have contributed immensely to the production of more green hydrogen. In the future, demonstration sites and projects will become the basis for large-scale applications.
Taiwan can choose a similar approach. Wang pointed out that Taiwan owns advanced skills in technological R&D, and with the innovative and ambitious spirit of enterprises, such features will power up the momentum of net-zero transition. As long as the government provides proper guidance for such power and creativity in the right direction, the path to net-zero transition may still be challenging, but not toward a dead end. "As we innovate, we will always find new solutions." Wang believes.
Wang also reminds us about the natural formation of a mechanism when the policy sets a goal, no matter for the industry or the market creates a response mechanism. "If our goal is to create more large-scale and affordable green energy supported with a market that allows free trade, which enables all the required relevant energy supply and platforms to be presented, under the premise of a clear goal, all stakeholders and key actors in the industries will start to communicate. The producer and user of green energy will find a feasible way to trade through the market mechanism," Wang explained.
Wang believed the government should act as a supporting role rather than a leader in all aspects. A regulatory system can bring positive effects, but regarding the development of new green energy technologies or net-zero trends, there are still too many uncertainties that cannot be foreseen, requiring more flexibility for the development direction. The government can mark the red line and enforce restrictions in specific sections, then allow the industry and market to freely innovate and develop in other aspects. This is the optimal way to foster technology innovations as well as prosperous markets.
Furthermore, strong social support and enhanced social consciousness are also key elements for net-zero transition in Taiwan. Wang noted that green energy transition and energy transition have always been politicized in the past. However, energy options are politically neutral, and should never be marked with a certain political affiliation. People of any group, party, or background, all need electricity, energy, and green energy. Especially in response to the current global trends, renewable energy development has never been more essential than this moment.
Therefore, Wang yearned to deeply root the concepts of green energy and net-zero transition in civic education and the education system. Wang emphasized that no matter the industries, competent authorities, or policies, all must be connected with the current social context. "When more people join the offshore wind industry, they will affect their families and friends. What we need is a more systemic plan for communication on a larger scale, allowing us to convince others about the necessity of a net-zero future. When people's mindsets are finally on the same page, we will interlink and formulate enormous social support. With such progress, the blueprint of net-zero transition will become a reality," Wang said.
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