France and Taiwan Looking to Bolster Renewable Energy Ties

Jean Ballandras, a Senior Adviser of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs for Renewable Energies, visited National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan, on January 27, to explore possible collaboration between the university and France.

The university has, through its RCETS research center, carried out alternative energy research and industry-academia cooperation to develop sources of renewable energy, including offshore wind power systems.

In France, the potential for the development of renewable energy sources is very high, Ballandras said. Some technologies that have reached maturity, such as hydro-, wind and solar power, are competing with fossil fuels and nuclear energy in certain regions.

“We have plenty of issues in common in the field of renewable energy in terms of revolution and electrical mix to phase out the nuclear energy, develop the renewable energy to limit carbon emission,” Ballandras said.

“If you want to replace nuclear energy, you must find huge amount of green resources, and you cannot find it on land which makes offshore energy significant.”

The main purpose of the visit was to establish a platform for exchanging know-how in the field of renewable energy.

Image source: NKCU