Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, has bought almost all green power produced and traded by certified enterprises in the country, the Bureau of Standard, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) said Friday.

To promote the country's renewable energy development, the BSMI established the National Renewable Energy Certification Center (T-RECC) in 2017, according to the BSMI.

After issuing its first certificate in May 2017, the center has issued a total of 1.06 million certificates to enterprise power producers as of February 2022, enabling them to trade their power on a green energy transaction mechanism, which was inaugurated in 2020, or retain the electricity for self-use purposes, the BSMI said.

The 1.06 million certificates were issued for the production of 1.06 billion kilowatts per hour of electricity via renewable sources, which has cut carbon emissions by 534,000 metric tons, the BSMI said.

Of the 1.06 million certificates issued by the center, about 910,000 certificates have been traded on the transaction platform as of February with TSMC purchasing almost 900,000 certificates.

As for the remaining 150,000 certificates, the green power produced was for self-usage, with TSMC also securing more than 7,100 certificates for green power which it generated for its own use.

The BSMI said local enterprises like TSMC were keen to utilize green power as they had included the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concept in their core business operations.

The transaction platform has encouraged many enterprises in a wide range of industries such as energy, electronics, financial, bio-tech cosmetics, and law firms to produce green power for transactions or for self-use, a move that would raise the amount of green power used to generate electricity, the BSMI said.

Some commercial buildings have also started producing green power by installing solar panels on their roofs, added the BSMI.

In addition to its large purchase of green power in Taiwan, TSMC has also sold "green bonds" on the local market.

Green bonds, promoted by Taiwan's capital markets and financial authorities, are aimed at encouraging companies to act in an environmentally responsible way, with the proceeds going to eco-friendly projects, according to the Taipei Exchange (TPEx), which runs the local bond market.

Data compiled by the TPEx showed that TSMC has issued five tranches of green bonds in Taiwan with outstanding value at NT$17.4 billion (US$626 million).

●Origin：Focus Taiwan By Liang Pei-chi and Frances Huang
●Link：https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202202180014