RE100 has no plans to include nuclear power: Energy chief

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) The RE100 energy chief told a forum in Taipei on Wednesday that the initiative will not allow companies to use nuclear power, but the country “may decide it needs nuclear power or other energy sources to provide a diversified electricity supply” in order to phase out fossil fuels.

Sam Kimmins, energy director of the Climate Group, an international nonprofit that co-founded RE100, told a climate change forum in Taipei that the group is often asked whether it would consider nuclear power as a source of renewable electricity under the RE100 definition, but “the answer is no.”

RE100 is a global corporate renewable energy initiative calling on companies to commit to 100% renewable energy. Its members include 33 Taiwanese companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

“RE100 is a renewable energy campaign; it’s about 100 percent renewable energy for businesses, and the goal of RE 100 will always be 100 percent renewable energy,” Kimmins said.

However, RE100’s push to phase out nuclear power “is only part of the picture, as the entire country’s power grid also needs to be balanced,” he added.

Therefore, while TSMC and other members of Taiwan’s RE100 organization can use 100 percent renewable electricity, which will help boost investment in renewable energy sources, “the country may decide it needs nuclear power or other sources to provide a diversified electricity supply” to reduce its use of fossil fuels, he added.

“These two things are not mutually exclusive,” Kimmins emphasized.

The Climate Group’s view on nuclear power is clear, he continued. “We would prefer that economies, given the choice, retire their fossil fuel plants rather than their nuclear plants.”

He argued that if a country has a “choice between a zero-emission option and a very fossil-fuel-intensive option,” it should “preserve the zero-emission option for existing energy.”

But Kimmins said it’s a more complex story when it comes to “new nuclear,” or building new nuclear power plants. “That’s a choice the government has to make, and we’re not going to question it.”

He added that it should be remembered that nuclear energy is expensive and takes a long time to build – building a new nuclear power plant takes about 15–20 years.

The RE 100 director stressed that in the transition period between construction and construction, “if we want to meet the (net zero emissions) targets for 2040 or 2050, we need to invest heavily in renewables because we know that renewables work.”

The current Democratic Progressive Party government in Taiwan pursues a “nuclear-free country” policy, which has been much discussed recently due to the expected increase in energy consumption in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) of electronics maker Pegatron Corp., recently appointed by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) as deputy chairman of a newly formed climate committee, called last week for Taiwan’s energy mix to consist of 30 percent renewable energy and 30 percent nuclear power.