Legislators exchanged draft amendments Saturday on who pays offshore wind grid-connection fees before a plenary week that could lock cost-sharing rules for substations due online by 2028, according to caucus staffers who shared redlined PDFs with InfoHandle. Developers want Taipower Co. to socialize upgrade costs across the national grid; Taipower argues new entrants should fund harbor-side switchyards that only serve their turbines.
Fee fight in plain terms
Connecting sea-based turbines requires high-voltage lines, onshore reactive power gear, and scheduling systems that meet Taiwan Power Co.’s reliability standards. The economics committee is debating whether connection charges appear as upfront developer invoices or spread through regulated tariffs paid by households.
Opposition lawmakers proposed capping annual fee increases at inflation minus one point; ruling-party members offered tax credits for local content in substation steel—two levers that could shift project IRRs without changing total megawatts built.
Why this week matters
European lenders financing Changhua and Miaoli arrays asked for legislative clarity before year-end financial close. Without signed fee schedules, syndicates pause drawdowns, delaying crane bookings that Korean and Danish yards already reserved.
Environmental groups urged lawmakers not to strip seabed monitoring funds while negotiating fees; they attached monitoring budgets to the same bill packet.
Regional stakes
Port cities expect maintenance jobs if fee deals keep projects alive. Fisher associations want compensation lines preserved in any compromise; they threatened street protests if upgrades proceed without revised transit corridors for trawl boats.
Until votes land, the actionable news is procedural: amended grid-connection fee language circulating before plenary, with Taipower and developers still far apart on who books substation upgrades.