From September 2025 through August 2026, electricity consumption in the Republic of China (Taiwan) relied heavily on fossil fuels, which supplied about 86% of the total. Gas accounted for just over half, coal for roughly a third, and oil for around 1.5%. Low-carbon sources supplied only about 14%: solar contributed 6%, wind about 4%, hydropower nearly 3%, and other unspecified low-carbon sources just over 1%. This leaves considerable room to expand clean electricity and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, along with their climate and air-pollution impacts.

Is Electricity Growing in Republic of China (Taiwan)?

Electricity consumption per person is growing, but clean electricity has not kept pace with its historical peak. The latest 2026 figure reached about 12,600 kWh per person, exceeding the previous record of roughly 12,500 kWh in 2025 by 114 kWh, or about 1%. That growth is welcome as electrification and AI increase electricity needs. However, low-carbon electricity generation stood at only about 1,800 kWh per person—550 kWh, or roughly 23%, below its 2013 record of almost 2,400 kWh. Record overall consumption alongside substantially lower clean generation highlights the urgency of expanding low-carbon supply.

Suggestions

Taiwan should pursue a combination of nuclear, solar, and wind expansion, supported by stronger electricity networks and storage. South Korea is a particularly relevant regional example: nuclear supplies a quarter of its electricity, demonstrating a substantial role for clean generation in an advanced East Asian industrial economy. France, with about two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear, offers another example of the scale achievable. For solar, Taiwan can learn from the US state of Hawaii, where solar supplies about 23%, and the US state of California, where it supplies almost a third, particularly when considering rooftop deployment and grid integration. For wind, island electricity systems offer useful comparisons: wind supplies roughly a third of electricity in Ireland and 30% in the United Kingdom. These examples support an ambitious strategy that expands solar and wind while rebuilding nuclear generation.

History

Taiwan’s low-carbon electricity history shows strong early nuclear growth followed by damaging reversals. Across the listed years in the 1980s, annual nuclear generation gains totaled 25 TWh, followed in 1990 by another roughly 5 TWh of nuclear growth and 3 TWh of hydropower growth. A 3 TWh nuclear decline in 2001 was more than reversed the following year. Much more troubling were the consecutive nuclear losses in 2015–2017, totaling almost 20 TWh; gains of nearly 10 TWh in 2018–2019 recovered only part of that decline. The renewed losses in every year from 2021 through 2025 totaled about 28 TWh, including almost 9 TWh in 2025 alone. Wind’s welcome increase of about 4 TWh in 2024 did not even offset that year’s nuclear decline. This sustained retreat in nuclear generation represents a serious setback for clean electricity, underscoring the need to preserve and expand low-carbon output rather than allow new gains to be overwhelmed by losses elsewhere.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.