Geothermal energy is the primary type of renewable energy in Taitung’s future. To strengthen the collaboration between New Zealand and Taitung County Governments, the Director of the Trade Development Center of NZCIO, Ms. Tina Wilson, and the Business Development Manager, Ms. Peg Tsai, visited the Taitung County Government on April 10th and had a meeting with Magistrate April Yao, and Director of Finance, Zhang Zhengwen. They discussed the development of Geothermal Energy technology and topics regarding how to collaborate in these areas.
Magistrate Yao stated that Taitung County has similar natural resources to New Zealand, rich in geothermal energy. This is why geothermal energy is Taitung’s main focus of renewable energy. It is forecasted that more than half of Taitung County’s energy will come from geothermal energy in the future. New Zealand is one of the pioneers in Geothermal energy, with roughly 15% of their energy sourced from this type of renewable energy, making them the perfect model for us to learn from.
In addition, the Maori from New Zealand and Taiwanese Aboriginal tribes share Austronesian language roots. Both sides have rich aboriginal cultures. In recent years, the Taitung County Government has also been proactively transforming Taitung into a multicultural and artistic Austronesian culture capital. Magistrate Yao gifted Director Wilson a Paiwanese regal cup. Besides geothermal energy, we also hope to have many collaboration opportunities with our friends from New Zealand in promoting Aboriginal culture.
Director Wilson thanks Magistrate Yao for her great support in the technical collaboration between Taitung and New Zealand. She emphasizes that geothermal energy is an area where Taiwan and New Zealand will both invest fully to advance. She hopes that this will build good grounds for both sides to continue collaborating in developing renewable energy sources in the future.
