US engineering firm Bechtel expects at least $10 billion worth of business opportunities in Taiwan over the next decade as the island makes an aggressive push to cut back on coal and slash emissions, reported Nikkei Asia.
Bechtel also aims to capture demand from other Asian economies looking to move away from coal and into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewables, Richard W. Freer, Bechtel’s president Asia Pacific told the Nikkei Asia.
Bechtel sees the biggest opportunity in Taiwan – which has pledged to phase out nuclear energy by 2025 and hit net-zero emissions in 2050.
The $10 billion energy opportunity jackpot in Taiwan will come mainly from Taiwan’s demand for LNG infrastructure, as well as combined-cycle power plants, according to Freer.
Taiwan aims to boost the share of electricity generated by LNG to 50% by 2025 from 35.6% now, while reducing the amount of coal-fired power to 30% from 45%. The nation also plans to raise the use of renewable energy to 20% from 5.58% to offset the loss of nuclear power, which contributed 10% of the total power supply in the first eight months of this year.
The Nikkei reported that Taiwan’s green ambitions are crucial to the island’s continued existence as a key Asian tech manufacturing hub, as big multinationals, such as Apple, Dell and Google, have committed to reducing carbon footprints in their supply chains.
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