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The Hoover Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region held Boom or Bust: Can Taiwan Secure the Energy Supplies It Needs to Meet Its High-Tech Aspirations? on Thursday, April 10, 2025 from 3:30-5:30 pm PT at Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building.
The prowess of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry puts it at the center of the AI boom. Chips made in Taiwan power most of the leading AI platforms, and its data centers are expanding at a rapid pace, driven by tech giants in cloud computing, AI, and the semiconductor industry. But this boom is also straining Taiwan’s energy supplies: the surge in electricity demand is happening while the transition to zero-carbon sources of energy has fallen behind schedule, and its final nuclear plant is scheduled to be shut down this year. Taiwan also faces a rising military threat from the People’s Republic of China, and its heavy reliance on imported energy supplies is a serious security vulnerability.
This event featured several experts with industry experience discussing these two parallel trends in Taiwan – the rapid AI-driven increases in demand for electricity, and the lagging development of new, more secure sources of carbon-free energy.
The prowess of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry puts it at the center of the AI boom. Chips made in Taiwan power most of the leading AI platforms, and its data centers are expanding at a rapid pace, driven by tech giants in cloud computing, AI, and the semiconductor industry. But this boom is also straining Taiwan’s energy supplies: the surge in electricity demand is happening while the transition to zero-carbon sources of energy has fallen behind schedule, and its final nuclear plant is scheduled to be shut down this year. Taiwan also faces a rising military threat from the People’s Republic of China, and its heavy reliance on imported energy supplies is a serious security vulnerability.
This event featured several experts with industry experience discussing these two parallel trends in Taiwan – the rapid AI-driven increases in demand for electricity, and the lagging development of new, more secure sources of carbon-free energy.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Peter Wu is the CEO of ASUS Cloud and Taiwan AI Service Corporation. He has led the development of AI Foundry Service (AFS), which advances on-premises AI deployment, cloud-based AI applications, and generative AI ecosystem to implement trust-worthy AI 2.0. In 2013, Dr. Wu represented Taiwan at the WTO Business Forum where he shared ASUS's development experience in cloud services, and he was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on Bio Taiwan Committee by Taiwan’s Executive Yuan in 2017 and 2019. In this capacity, he provided guidance and advice on the strategic direction of the biotechnology industry in Taiwan. From 2018 to 2020, he also managed the biggest AI supercomputer project in Taiwan, helping it to achieve its best-ever ranking of 20th in the TOP500. The project was then spun off into Taiwan AI Service Corporation, the first commercial AIHPC supercomputer cloud service provider in the Asia-Pacific. Dr. Wu is actively involved in various organizations and committees, including serving as the chairman of the Taiwan AI Alliance, and holds prominent roles in the fields of Smart Medical, AI, cloud computing, and others.
Jane Yung-Jen Hsu is a professor and department chair of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University. Her research interests include multi-agent systems, intelligent data analysis, commonsense knowledge, and context-aware computing. Prof. Hsu is the director of the Intel-NTU Connected Context Computing Center, featuring global research collaboration among NTU, Intel, and the National Science Council of Taiwan. She is actively involved in many key international AI conferences as organizers and members of the program committee. In addition to serving as the President of Taiwanese Association for Artificial Intelligence (2013-2014), Prof. Hsu has been a member of AAAI, IEEE, ACM, Phi Tau Phi, and an executive committee member of the IEEE Technical Committee on E-Commerce (2000) and TAAI (2004-current).
Li-fu Lin is an adviser to Formosa Heavy Industries. He previously served as the vice chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission – recently renamed the Nuclear Safety Commission – which supervises Taiwan’s nuclear power plants, nuclear facilities, and the use of radioactive material in commercial and research activities. From 2009-2013, he was the program manager of Taiwan’s National Energy Program, leading the National Science and Technology Council’s Clean Coal Projects. He spent more than 30 years as a researcher at the Institute of Nuclear Research, including serving as general manager from 2004-2007. He holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from University Karlsruhe in Germany.
Gwenyth Wang-Reeves is the Engagement Director for GE Vernova in Taiwan. She is responsible for establishing, and driving GE’s advocacy initiatives in Taiwan, engaging with local and central governments and other stakeholders on important public policy challenges, as well as advising the GE businesses on a broad range of regulatory issues. Prior to joining GE Vernova, Gwenyth was the Senior Director of Government and Public Affairs at the American Chamber of Commerce Taiwan. She has also held several senior policy roles at Taiwan’s National Security Council and Presidential Office, as well as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Taiwan. Gwenyth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the National Taiwan University, Master’s degrees in Political Communication at the Royal Holloway, and Democracy and Democratisation at the University of London and University College London, as well as a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Warwick.
Vincent Chen, a Taiwan native, is an energy investment and policy specialist with a decade of experience in the private sector. From 2020 to 2023, he served as an investment manager at GSSG Solar, a U.S.-based renewable energy private equity fund, where he led the development of its power generation portfolio in Taiwan. His work included building Taiwan’s first hybrid solar energy and aquaculture project backed by a foreign investor. Before joining GSSG, Vincent led business development and fundraising at Jupiter Intelligence, a climate risk analytics provider, and Lucid Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer. His research interests encompass power markets, environmental markets, and carbon border adjustments. He holds a master’s degree in international development economics from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in environmental economics from Stanford University.
Peter Wu is the CEO of ASUS Cloud and Taiwan AI Service Corporation. He has led the development of AI Foundry Service (AFS), which advances on-premises AI deployment, cloud-based AI applications, and generative AI ecosystem to implement trust-worthy AI 2.0. In 2013, Dr. Wu represented Taiwan at the WTO Business Forum where he shared ASUS's development experience in cloud services, and he was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on Bio Taiwan Committee by Taiwan’s Executive Yuan in 2017 and 2019. In this capacity, he provided guidance and advice on the strategic direction of the biotechnology industry in Taiwan. From 2018 to 2020, he also managed the biggest AI supercomputer project in Taiwan, helping it to achieve its best-ever ranking of 20th in the TOP500. The project was then spun off into Taiwan AI Service Corporation, the first commercial AIHPC supercomputer cloud service provider in the Asia-Pacific. Dr. Wu is actively involved in various organizations and committees, including serving as the chairman of the Taiwan AI Alliance, and holds prominent roles in the fields of Smart Medical, AI, cloud computing, and others.
Jane Yung-Jen Hsu is a professor and department chair of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University. Her research interests include multi-agent systems, intelligent data analysis, commonsense knowledge, and context-aware computing. Prof. Hsu is the director of the Intel-NTU Connected Context Computing Center, featuring global research collaboration among NTU, Intel, and the National Science Council of Taiwan. She is actively involved in many key international AI conferences as organizers and members of the program committee. In addition to serving as the President of Taiwanese Association for Artificial Intelligence (2013-2014), Prof. Hsu has been a member of AAAI, IEEE, ACM, Phi Tau Phi, and an executive committee member of the IEEE Technical Committee on E-Commerce (2000) and TAAI (2004-current).
Li-fu Lin is an adviser to Formosa Heavy Industries. He previously served as the vice chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission – recently renamed the Nuclear Safety Commission – which supervises Taiwan’s nuclear power plants, nuclear facilities, and the use of radioactive material in commercial and research activities. From 2009-2013, he was the program manager of Taiwan’s National Energy Program, leading the National Science and Technology Council’s Clean Coal Projects. He spent more than 30 years as a researcher at the Institute of Nuclear Research, including serving as general manager from 2004-2007. He holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from University Karlsruhe in Germany.
Gwenyth Wang-Reeves is the Engagement Director for GE Vernova in Taiwan. She is responsible for establishing, and driving GE’s advocacy initiatives in Taiwan, engaging with local and central governments and other stakeholders on important public policy challenges, as well as advising the GE businesses on a broad range of regulatory issues. Prior to joining GE Vernova, Gwenyth was the Senior Director of Government and Public Affairs at the American Chamber of Commerce Taiwan. She has also held several senior policy roles at Taiwan’s National Security Council and Presidential Office, as well as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Taiwan. Gwenyth holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the National Taiwan University, Master’s degrees in Political Communication at the Royal Holloway, and Democracy and Democratisation at the University of London and University College London, as well as a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Warwick.
Vincent Chen, a Taiwan native, is an energy investment and policy specialist with a decade of experience in the private sector. From 2020 to 2023, he served as an investment manager at GSSG Solar, a U.S.-based renewable energy private equity fund, where he led the development of its power generation portfolio in Taiwan. His work included building Taiwan’s first hybrid solar energy and aquaculture project backed by a foreign investor. Before joining GSSG, Vincent led business development and fundraising at Jupiter Intelligence, a climate risk analytics provider, and Lucid Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer. His research interests encompass power markets, environmental markets, and carbon border adjustments. He holds a master’s degree in international development economics from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in environmental economics from Stanford University.
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The Hoover Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and the Stanford Taiwan Science and Technology Hub held Enhancing Energy Security in a Time of Rapid Change: Perspectives from the US and Taiwan on Wednesday, November 13th, 2024 from 4:45 pm - 7:15 pm PT.
Over the next decade, the world will face a major energy challenge. Most of the world’s advanced economies are trying to manage a transition to net-zero emissions at the same time that electricity demand is projected to surge. In particular, the recent emergence of artificial intelligence as a rapid growth industry, and its associated electricity-hungry data centers, has led many tech companies to secure long-term carbon-free sources of electricity for their activities – including nuclear power.
In this event, we will hear from people in the energy and technology fields in both the US and Taiwan about how the surge in AI-related electricity demand – and the related impacts on semiconductor manufacturing in Taiwan – is affecting energy security in both countries. We especially want to call attention to the way that new technologies may require changes in the planned transition to zero-carbon energy sources.
This event was hosted online and live-streamed to the public. It is co-sponsored with the Stanford Taiwan Science and Technology Hub.
Over the next decade, the world will face a major energy challenge. Most of the world’s advanced economies are trying to manage a transition to net-zero emissions at the same time that electricity demand is projected to surge. In particular, the recent emergence of artificial intelligence as a rapid growth industry, and its associated electricity-hungry data centers, has led many tech companies to secure long-term carbon-free sources of electricity for their activities – including nuclear power.
In this event, we will hear from people in the energy and technology fields in both the US and Taiwan about how the surge in AI-related electricity demand – and the related impacts on semiconductor manufacturing in Taiwan – is affecting energy security in both countries. We especially want to call attention to the way that new technologies may require changes in the planned transition to zero-carbon energy sources.
This event was hosted online and live-streamed to the public. It is co-sponsored with the Stanford Taiwan Science and Technology Hub.
Featuring
Paul Dabbar, CEO, Bohr Quantum Technology
Jared Dunnmon, Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Defense Innovation Unit
Jennifer Huffstetler, Chief Product Sustainability Officer and VP/GM of
Intel Future Platform Strategy and Sustainability
Gwenyth Wang-Reeves, Engagement Director, GE Taiwan
Kuor-hsin Chang, Independent Board Member, Sentelic, Inc.
Tsaiying Lu, Research Fellow, Research Institute for Democracy, Society,
and Emerging Technology
Paul Dabbar, CEO, Bohr Quantum Technology
Jared Dunnmon, Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Defense Innovation Unit
Jennifer Huffstetler, Chief Product Sustainability Officer and VP/GM of
Intel Future Platform Strategy and Sustainability
Gwenyth Wang-Reeves, Engagement Director, GE Taiwan
Kuor-hsin Chang, Independent Board Member, Sentelic, Inc.
Tsaiying Lu, Research Fellow, Research Institute for Democracy, Society,
and Emerging Technology
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Tuesday, May 3, 2022 from 4:30 - 5:45 pm PT, the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific (PTIP) at the Hoover Institution will host a special event examining Taiwan's acute dependence on foreign energy imports. The event will be online and is free and open to the public. Please register at the event page.
In 2020, 93 percent of the energy consumed in Taiwan came from imported fossil fuels: oil, coal, and liquid natural gas. Taiwan’s government is also phasing out nuclear power, with the last nuclear generation unit scheduled to be shut down in 2025. This overwhelming reliance on imports is at odds with Taiwan’s pledges to reduce its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050. It also presents a serious security vulnerability: a prolonged disruption of energy supplies could quickly bring Taiwan’s economy to a halt, including its strategically important semiconductor industry.
In this event, three experts on Taiwan’s energy policies will discuss Taiwan’s changing energy mix, its ambitious plans for developing renewable energy sources and lessening dependence on imports, and how Taiwan’s exclusion from important international energy bodies such as the International Energy Agency adds to its energy security challenges.
In this event, three experts on Taiwan’s energy policies will discuss Taiwan’s changing energy mix, its ambitious plans for developing renewable energy sources and lessening dependence on imports, and how Taiwan’s exclusion from important international energy bodies such as the International Energy Agency adds to its energy security challenges.
Speaker Bios
Ker-hsuan Chien is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Technology Management at National Tsing Hua University. Her research focuses on the socio-technical aspects of the energy transition in Taiwan. She is particularly interested in how the state’s industrial policies, the pressures from international corporate governance, and the materiality of the electric power system co-shape the path of Taiwan’s energy transition.
Kuan-Ting Chen (he/him) is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Taiwan NextGen Foundation, a Taipei and Chiayi-based think tank working to make Taiwan more sustainable, diverse, and inclusive. Previously, he served as the Deputy Spokesperson and Chief Research Officer at Taipei City Government. In this position, he worked to strengthen Taipei's national and international standing, formulated methods to realize public policy objectives, researched and generated activism for new policy directions, and initiated the Taipei City Government’s international internship program.
Marcin Jerzewski (he/him) currently serves as the Taipei Office Analyst at the European Values Center for Security Policy and Research Fellow at the Taiwan NextGen Foundation. Committed to public scholarship, Marcin is also a contributor to the China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe platform of the Czech Association for International Affairs and a fellow of the BEBESEA (Building Better Connections between East and Southeast Asia) collective. As a scholar of Taiwan-Europe relations, he is a frequent commentator in Taiwanese and international media, including the BBC, Focus Taiwan, The Guardian, RTÉ, and Voice of America.
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If Tsai Ing-wen is superstitious, she should be worried: second term presidents in Taiwan appear to be cursed. Much like President Tsai, her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou started his second term on a confident and triumphant note. But over the next four years, he faced a relentless series of political crises, including an intraparty power struggle with Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, massive protests against the death of a military conscript and construction of a nuclear power plant, and of course the Sunflower Movement occupation of the legislature, which effectively halted cross-Strait rapprochement with Beijing. President Ma’s approval ratings bottomed out at record lows, and he stepped down in 2016 on the heels of a sweeping electoral defeat of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), ultimately having accomplished little in his last years in office.
Somehow, Chen Shui-bian’s second term was even worse. The controversy around his re-election victory in 2004 robbed him of whatever political momentum he might have enjoyed, and he spent most of his remaining tenure fending off vicious partisan attacks, anti-corruption accusations in the press, massive street rallies by his opponents, and impeachment attempts in the legislature. In his attempt to keep core pro-independence supporters on his side, President Chen pursued a brash symbolic agenda that deliberately provoked the pan-Blue opposition, infuriated Beijing, alienated even potential allies in Washington, and left him politically isolated. In the 2008 elections, his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) paid a steep electoral price, and after his term was finally over, Chen ended up in handcuffs: the corruption accusations turned out to be true, and he was sentenced to a long prison term.
The rest of this piece continues at Taiwan Insight.
Somehow, Chen Shui-bian’s second term was even worse. The controversy around his re-election victory in 2004 robbed him of whatever political momentum he might have enjoyed, and he spent most of his remaining tenure fending off vicious partisan attacks, anti-corruption accusations in the press, massive street rallies by his opponents, and impeachment attempts in the legislature. In his attempt to keep core pro-independence supporters on his side, President Chen pursued a brash symbolic agenda that deliberately provoked the pan-Blue opposition, infuriated Beijing, alienated even potential allies in Washington, and left him politically isolated. In the 2008 elections, his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) paid a steep electoral price, and after his term was finally over, Chen ended up in handcuffs: the corruption accusations turned out to be true, and he was sentenced to a long prison term.
The rest of this piece continues at Taiwan Insight.