Taiwan's Solar Industry May Reach NT$500 Billion in 2012

By Tim Culpan

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's solar industry may grow to NT$500 billion ($16 billion) by 2012 as the government promotes the use of renewable energy, the Cabinet said.

Revenue from makers of solar-electricity components was NT$11.3 billion for the first six months of this year, the Cabinet said in a statement posted on its Web site last night, following a visit by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan to two manufacturers yesterday.

``The solar energy industry is the star of tomorrow,'' Liu was cited as saying. ``We mustn't let high oil prices use up our competitiveness.''

Liu urged Taiwan's legislature to pass a renewable energy bill to spur the development of new energy sources. The island wants to cut its dependency on oil and gas imports as fuel prices surge.

A delegation including Liu, chairman of the National Science Council Lee Lou-chuang and vice minister of economics Hsieh Fada yesterday visited Sino-American Silicon Products Inc., Taiwan's largest supplier of silicon used in solar cell making, and Gintech Energy Corp., Taiwan's second-largest maker of solar cells.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.