Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang took part in the 2025 ITRI Net Zero Day April 8 in Taipei City, urging cross-sector cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the Ministry of Economic Affair’s deep energy-saving initiative.
Ho first praised Hsinchu County-based Industrial Technology Research Institute’s contributions to energy transformation technologies. He expressed hope of applying energy efficiency solutions across all sectors while promoting the initiative through regulations and incentive strategies.
According to the MOEA, the France-based International Energy Agency has stated that advancing energy efficiency is critical to achieving global carbon emission goals. Statistics show that Taiwan’s average annual rate of energy efficiency improvement reached 5.4 percent over the past five years, exceeding the 4 percent target set during the 28th U.N. Climate Change Conference in 2023.
The ministry’s initiative, which covers state-owned businesses, ministries and agencies as well as wide-ranging industries, would help reduce electricity consumption by 20.6 billion kilowatt-hours, shrinking carbon emissions by 10.18 million metric tons from 2024 to 2027, the MOEA said, adding that as of March 2025, the country has saved 5.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Additionally, the MOEA is matching around 1,200 businesses with energy service companies (ESCOs) to help them implement cost-effective electricity-saving measures, the ministry said. Since 2023 it has run a subsidy program encouraging people to replace old home appliances with new ones that meet Taiwan’s highest energy efficiency standard, the ministry said, adding that a total of 3.47 million air conditioners and refrigerators have been upgraded as of March 2025.
The ministry will continue integrating diverse policies, adopting the latest energy-saving technology and promoting ESCO development, the MOEA said, calling on citizens to take part in realizing the country’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. (YCH-E)
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