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Jul 22
Analysis: Why Taiwan solar makers' overseas push is hitting a cloudy patch

Taiwan's solar manufacturers are looking beyond the island for growth as China's oversupplied solar sector keeps prices low, local approvals in Taiwan slow project rollouts, and global energy markets stay volatile. Their push highlights risks for global clean-power buyers, who still face cost pressure, grid constraints, and shifting technology priorities.

Ainos said its AI Nose platform has collected more than 613 million industrial odor data points, with most of the readings coming from semiconductor manufacturing sites. The AI odor-sensing startup, backed by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), said the expanding rollout is accelerating real-world data collection and strengthening its Smell Language Model as it builds a long-term Smell Intelligence Network.
Taiwan's Ministry of Environment has proposed changes to its carbon fee regulations that would give first-time regulated high emitters more time to prepare compliance plans and allow some firms to use early project credits against carbon fees. The revisions come as the island's carbon pricing system begins taking effect and businesses adjust to new reporting, verification and payment requirements.
As AI computing drives surging electricity demand and heat generation, Taiwan's government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) brought together government officials and industry executives on July 21 for its "Semiconductor and AI Computing Sustainable Competitiveness Forum" to explore energy-saving solutions for AI infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing.
South Korea's plan to develop a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region (Jeolla Province) is facing mounting scrutiny over whether the area can support the enormous energy and infrastructure requirements of advanced memory manufacturing.
As climate change fuels increasingly severe heat waves, Taiwan is stepping up efforts to combat heat-related illness by integrating artificial intelligence (AI), IoT sensors and social welfare services into a smart heat protection network to better protect vulnerable residents.
LG Energy Solution plans to establish a sodium-ion battery mother line at its Ochang Energy Plant in South Korea in 2026, seeking to narrow CATL's early commercial lead in energy storage systems.

Oracle's US$165 billion data center project in New Mexico is running into higher-than-expected costs due to local concerns about its energy requirements. This case is one of several showing how the build-out of AI infrastructure in the US has become a politically charged issue at the local level due to worries over electricity needs and other issues.

Taiwan's heavy-electrical and electromechanical industry is entering a new growth phase as demand expands beyond its long-standing reliance on Taiwan Power (Taipower). While Taipower's grid modernization remains the sector's foundation, semiconductor investments, AI data center construction, and overseas infrastructure projects are creating multiple growth drivers. At the same time, project-based business models are making revenue recognition increasingly uneven despite record order backlogs.

Taiwan plans to increase its technology budget by 6.2% in 2027 to accelerate investment in artificial intelligence (AI), space technology and net-zero innovation. The move is also meant to strengthen long-term industrial competitiveness through closer collaboration with the private sector.

As AI ushers in an era in which computing capacity increasingly translates directly into power demand, energy has become the foundational layer of the "five-layer cake" framework outlined by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. While hyperscale cloud providers are accelerating construction of AI data centers, power infrastructure is emerging as a critical factor determining how quickly those facilities can come online.

Gotion High-Tech said its first-half earnings are set to rise sharply, a result that could matter for battery investors and electric-vehicle supply chains worldwide. The Chinese maker cited stronger sales, product upgrades, overseas expansion, and gains from stock investments, while warning the figures are still preliminary and unaudited.