06 foreign news
@ green | January-February , 2021
TRANSPORTATION
Creating a Blue Ocean
Taiwanese e-bikes impact with strong industry chain
With the rising awareness of environmental protection and the popularisation of leisure and fitness concepts , e-bikes have become a new model of “ green transportation ” due to their various advantages , such as power-saving and zero pollution . Thanks to gradually maturing technology and decreasing unit prices .
Europe has become one of the significant e-bike markets globally as it leads the world in environmental awareness .
With the international e-bike market being driven by Europe , as demand for e-bikes among seniors in the EU market increases , the average unit price of e-bikes exported to the EU from Taiwan has also risen significantly 36.7 per cent . That created a rise in the overall export value of e-bikes .
Apart from Europe , Taiwan ’ s export structure is led by exports of e-bikes to North America and in 2019 reached 144,000 units in volume , ranking first in terms of growth of export value among all regions .
Since the rise of the sharing economy , the Taiwanese bicycle industry was hit hard as the overall export value of Taiwanese bicycles slid downward . However , e-bikes have experienced “ a rise in both volume and price ” recently .
According to data published by the Customs Administration , Ministry of Finance , Europe and North America accounted for over 90 per cent of Taiwanese e-bikes exports . Simultaneously , the top
GREEN FINANCE
Merida ’ s e-bikes have received the Taiwan Excellence Silver Quality Award in consecutive years .
three importing countries were the Netherlands , the US , and Germany .
However , the Taiwanese bicycle industry stresses quality over quantity and pursuing high-tech and high-value-added products . It has also greatly affected the development of the global bicycle technology .
In recent years , Taiwan ’ s two major bicycle brands - Giant and Merida - have actively developed e-bike products , to satisfy the global demand . For example , Giant Group invested EUR15 million to set up a new plant in Hungary to get closer to the rapid rising e-bike market in Europe by shortening the supply chain .
Giant bicycles are sold in over 50 countries with over 10,000 distributors and have been developing power-assisted bicycles since 1999 . And was also the first brand to bring power-assisted
Funds to benefit from green revolution bikes into the European market .
Founded in 1972 , Merida Industry Co ., Ltd . has also been targeting the trend of e-bikes . The launch of the e160 , an electric mountain bicycle produced by Merida , caused a stir in the global market three years ago .
The “ e160 900E Electric Full-Suspension Cross-Country Mountain Bicycle ,” which flaunted that climbing uphill would no longer be a burden , has become a classic representation of sports and leisure e-bikes and has won the Taiwan Excellence Silver Quality Award 2017 .
In 2020 , Merida launched the eONE-SIXTY . It won the Taiwan Excellence Silver Quality Award , thanks to its variety of unique designs . The designs included a new carbon fibre frame that is lighter and more rigid and a heatconducting device to prevent the battery overheating .
ENERGY
World ’ s largest standalone solar and energy storage project
Terra-Gen , a leading renewable energy developer and operator , announced an agreement with Mortenson to proceed on the Edwards & Sanborn solar and energy storage project in Kern County , California . The project consists of 1,118 megawatts of solar and 2,165 megawatt-hours of energy storage . It is currently the largest single solar and battery energy storage project to reach this milestone .
“ Selecting the right partner to execute a project of this scale coupled with cutting edge battery experience was paramount for Terra-Gen , and Mortenson was a natural fit ,” said Brian Gorda , Terra-Gen ’ s vice president of Engineering .
“ Terra-Gen is excited to push the industry to new heights and build a plant that provides energy for all hours of demand .”
The Edwards & Sanborn project is located near several operating winds and solar projects in Kern County , California . Mortenson is the full Engineering , Procurement , and Construction ( EPC ) contractor on solar and energy storage scopes . Site construction will commence in Q1 2021 with expected completion in Q4 2022 .
Solar production on the site will utilise more than 2.5 million modules to produce enough energy to power 260,000 homes in California . Energy storage will use more than 110,000 lithium-ion battery modules .
Mortenson is one of the top contractors in power with industry-leading experience in the wind , solar , transmission and distribution , repowering and battery energy storage . The project is Mortenson ’ s 78th solar project and 11th energy storage project .
“ The Edwards & Sanborn solar and energy storage project is industry-changing and during this challenging 2020 will redefine the impact these systems will have on our clean energy future ,” said Trent Mostaert , Mortenson ’ s vice president and general manager of Solar . “ We are proud to combine our solar and energy storage design and construction expertise with Terra-Gen ’ s development capabilities to deliver a world-class energy facility .”
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There are many more sustainable or ethical funds to choose from than those engaged directly in the ‘ greening ’ economy .
With the help of investment platform AJ Bell , the top-performing open-ended investment companies ( OEICs ) of the last three years are sorted throughreasoning that in a rapidly developing field , recent performance should be given more weight than in most sectors - to pick out eight funds .
Benchmarking in this area is haphazard , however , which makes comparing performance tricky .
According to Laith Khalaf , a financial analyst at AJ Bell , the two consistently stand-out performers are Blackrock Sustainable Energy and Pictet Global Environmental Opportunities . Pictet GEO holds companies focusing on energy efficiency and invests in companies tackling other vital
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environmental issues such as waste management and pollution control .
“ It is the only fund in our table that has beaten the world index and the global funds sector over 10 years .”
A quick look at a list of 1,642 widely available OEICs shows the Pictet GEO fund sneaks into the top 100 performers over the last three years with its total return of nearly 50 per cent .
Khalaf added : “ Guinness has an absolutely awful period of performance
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shortly after it launched , losing around 80 per cent of its value between 2008 and 2012 . Not many funds make it back from that kind of sustained poor performance , but Guinness Sustainable Energy has shown some bouncebackability , and recent performance has seen a marked improvement .”
The Impax fund is something of an anomaly as it invests exclusively in Asia - although , given the region ’ s rapid recovery from the Covid crisis and the China emissions pledge , this might be no bad thing .
WHEB Sustainability is the closest thing to a general ESG fund , but an examination of its holdings show a focus on specifically green sectors . The fund invests globally across themes like environmental services , resource efficiency , water management , sustainable transport and cleaner energy .
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Jupiter Ecology is an old-timer for this sector , managed by Charlie Thomas since 2003 . It makes long-term investments in companies which are involved in recycling , energy-saving and water treatment .
The youngest fund on the list meanwhile , Nordea , has a strategy devoted to resource efficiency and companies improving efficiency with their products and services . One holding is HexCel Corp , the leading carbon fibre producer in the world .
Khalaf noted the specialist nature of these funds meant they weren ’ t the cheapest . “ A typical active fund costs around 0.75 per cent and several of these funds charge considerably more than that .”
Looking forward , he concluded : “ With the race for clean energy really taking off in recent years as fears over climate change have heightened , it ’ s a good bet that conditions in the next 10 years will look more favourable for these funds than the last 10 years .”
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