Ministry of Economic Affairs: Oil and Gas Supply Secure Until September, CPC Pre-arranges Winter Procurement

TAIPEI (Central News Agency) -- Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lai Chien-hsin stated today that despite rising tensions in the Middle East and potential risks in the Strait of Hormuz, the government has been holding daily energy deployment meetings since late February. Taiwan's domestic oil and gas supply is currently stable, "secure until August and September," and CPC has already planned winter procurement in advance, ensuring overall supply security.

Lai Chien-hsin attended the "2026 Taiwan Energy Summit Forum" today and delivered a keynote speech titled "New Strategies for Strengthening National Energy Resilience." He pointed out that recently, Qatar and international energy companies have successively declared force majeure, leading to external concerns about energy supply risks. However, Taiwan has established a relatively stable supply system through diversified procurement and long-term planning.

He stated that CPC has long maintained a database covering over 180 types of oils distributed in more than 40 countries. When a specific source is blocked, procurement sources can be swiftly switched, thus ensuring oil and gas supply security until September.

Regarding overall energy policy, Lai Chien-hsin pointed out that Taiwan is promoting its "Second Energy Transition," with energy resilience as its core, advancing simultaneously in green energy development, diversified supply, grid strengthening, energy saving, and storage. He emphasized that electricity is not only a support for economic development but also a manifestation of national power, and the future policy goal is to build an affordable and indispensable power system.

In terms of green energy development, Lai Chien-hsin stated that Taiwan's offshore wind power new installed capacity ranked third globally in 2025, and related experience has attracted attention from countries like Japan and South Korea. In addition to continuing to promote zone development, floating wind farm demonstration projects are expected to start by the end of this year, and the potential of surrounding sea areas will be assessed, estimating that installed capacity can increase by another 8 to 10GW by 2035 compared to the original 10.93GW by 2030.

Lai Chien-hsin stated that in the past, most green power entered the industrial sector through feed-in tariff systems, with limited public perception. In the future, through microgrids and energy storage systems, green power will be brought closer to residential use, increasing social acceptance, while strengthening grid resilience and reducing the impact of power outages during extreme weather or disasters.

Regarding energy saving, Lai Chien-hsin pointed out that in the first quarter of this year, national electricity savings reached 770 million kilowatt-hours, equivalent to the supply of approximately 1.6 natural gas ships, showing the substantial benefits of energy saving in enhancing energy resilience. Future efforts will continue to expand energy saving efficiency through the ESCO model.

For future energy storage development, Lai Chien-hsin stated that many industries consider last year as Taiwan's first year of energy storage. In addition to promoting grid-scale energy storage, the government will actively strengthen behind-the-meter energy storage. He pointed out that as enterprises pursue RE100 goals, they need to purchase different types of green power and increase energy storage systems. In the future, the government will also combine microgrids and fuel cells to promote applications in remote areas and communities, while driving the development of the domestic energy storage industry.

Lai Chien-hsin emphasized that electricity demand will continue to grow, and the government will gradually optimize the energy system through policy and market mechanisms, ensuring stable and safe supply while allowing industries and the public to access affordable electricity. "Electricity is national power" and a key pillar for the country's continued development. (Edited by Lin Shu-yuan) 1150506

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