A transition toward a market expansion phase: Policies for promoting wind power in Taiwan

Considering the significant issues on global warming and environmental protection, the energy sector needs a long-term policy, by which renewable energies gradually replace conventional fossil fuels. In terms of an energy system, the development of renewable energies implies a challenge to existing energies like fossil fuels and nuclear power that have been for decades equipped with sound infrastructure and regulations. And a transformation of the energy system cannot expect any achievement without overcoming considerable opposition from vested interests involved with the fossil fuels technologies.Analyses of the “technological system” can serve as a guide to explore how the phase-in and phase-out of actors in the energy system, the formation of the networks, and the establishment of policies come to work on development potentials of each function in the energy system. This article, by taking wind power for example, first investigates into the analytical framework of the technological system to analyze developmental strategies for the wind power evolution in Taiwan. Besides, a comparative analysis is drawn from the development of wind power between Germany and Sweden (a positive and an unsatisfactory example) to understand what essentials policy makers should consider for expanding wind power utilization in Taiwan.