Taiwan aims to lead on 'smart grids'

Taiwan is looking to upgrade its grid

Taiwan's biggest power company, telecoms operator and IT firms are designing metering and communication systems to link air conditioners and lighting systems with computers and mobile phones. Efficiency gains from the scheme could save millions of tons of carbon emissions.

The technologies will enable property owners to set "energy budgets" for their buildings, send electricity price change updates to consumers via cable TV or mobile phone, and let telecoms firms start providing power optimisation services. These systems are likely to be crucial to recently announced moves in Britain, the US and China to build "smart grids", because Taiwan develops and manufactures many of the world's electronic chips and components.

Taiwan Power, the island's utility, will launch a small-scale research study of less than 100 homes, which will be rapidly expanded to tens of thousands of homes in the next two to three years.

"Taiwan is the place to do this because we already have a strong information infrastructure and we can manufacture fast and at low cost," said a government official. She estimated that the island could save 10 per cent of its energy simply by switching off idle devices, and another 10 to 20 per cent through better management of air conditioning.

"Human beings are lazy," the official said. "If you make adjustments automatically, then you can save a great deal."

In trials, Taiwan Power is experimenting with wireless devices so that smart meters can communicate with all the devices in a house. Ho Wu-chi of the government's Industrial Technology Research Institute said Taiwan aims to develop a two-way system of communication between electricity suppliers and users.

Consumers will receive frequent updates of price fluctuations so they can trim usage at peak times. While the UK aims to do this through dedicated displays in each house, Taiwan wants to do it more cheaply by using existing devices such as cable TV, mobile phones and computers.

"We are putting in place a smart meter policy. If we want to go into the international market, we have to show first that we can do it ourselves," said Ho.

Within five years, he predicted that more than five million smart meters will be installed at a cost of NT$50bn (£0.98bn).

In the international market, the business potential is enormous. For each of the next 30 years, Ho estimates the world will need 30 million meters, each retailing for between US$50 and US$100 (£31) and (£62).

This article first appeared on the Guardian.

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