Taiwan to allocate some solar tariffs to wind

Taiwan is likely to cut the feed-in tariffs it pays to solar power generators in its revised rates for 2011.

Taiwan's Bureau of Energy director Su Jin-sheng told Bloomberg that the expected cut is due to lower cost of installing equipment, which converts sunlight to energy.

"The island may increase the payments to producers of wind power, whose costs are increasing," Jin-sheng said.

Feed-in tariffs being paid by the state-run utility Taiwan Power Company to generators include US$0.37 per kilowatt-hour for photovoltaic solar panels and US$0.08 for wind farms.