Facing rapid growth in renewable energy, increased grid dispatch pressures, and decarbonization demands from hard-to-electrify industries like refining and petrochemicals, South Korea is combining existing nuclear power plants with water electrolysis technology to achieve a low-carbon, stable, and large-scale hydrogen supply. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) has moved beyond basic research and, with government support, has begun verification projects.
Taiwan Cement (TCC) has begun to see results from its expansion through acquisitions in Europe and Africa, with the company now holding a 50% market share in Portugal and accumulating more than 2 million tons of carbon credits. Although the EU has postponed the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to 2027, TCC chairman An-ping Chang has stressed that corporations need to prepare beforehand to comply with future regulations.
Hydrogen power is expected to play a pivotal role in South Korea's smart grid as the country unveils its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) carbon reduction targets for 2035. Yet with resources and investments lagging behind other leading competitors, South Korea will need to reassess the role of hydrogen energy in sectors spanning power generation and transportation to heavy industry, if the country aims to see tangible results from advancing hydrogen power.
Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation (SSFC) told investors on November 28 that it is navigating a challenging operating environment marked by raw material price volatility, Chinese product dumping, and shifting US tariff policies. The company said it is countering these pressures through diversified product development, rising contributions from its optoelectronics segment, and accelerating growth at subsidiary Shinsol Advanced Chemicals.
Power demands of AI servers are boosting growth in the power semiconductor market. However, Taiwan's advanced carbon materials have long relied on imports, and China's recent graphite export restrictions have once again emphasized the importance of localized supply chains.
As AI computing power surges exponentially, electricity has become a critical strategic resource for the tech industry. With traditional power supply models struggling to meet the rapidly growing demand from data centers, US tech giants are transforming from mere consumers into active investors and traders in energy.
TSMC, seeking to balance advanced manufacturing with ecological stewardship, has launched a biodiversity initiative centered on one of the planet's most essential pollinators: the honeybee. In partnership with Tunghai University's Department of Life Sciences and local beekeepers in Hsinchu, Taichung, and Tainan, the company has introduced the "Ji Mi" program—TSMC-branded honey—to support bee conservation and strengthen local ecosystems.
China's industrial overcapacity and a prolonged real estate slump continue to weigh on cement demand across both sides of the Taiwan Strait, prompting Taiwan Cement Corporation (TCC) to accelerate its overseas expansion. The company is leaning on high-margin, low-carbon cement operations in Turkey and Portugal, along with its fast-growing European energy-storage business, as its next major growth engines. TCC said its Europe-Africa cement operations and new-energy ventures have become its third and fourth pillars, and it is targeting Europe's coming wave of urban renewal and a EUR10 billion (approx. US$11.5 billion) electricity-market opportunity.
Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Envision Group is evaluating the establishment of a battery plant in India. As the Indian government encourages increased use of renewable energy, energy storage is increasingly being accepted as a new opportunity.
Raymond Huang, chairman of water pump leader Walrus Pump, stated that 2026 will see four main growth drivers: this includes the launch of the new Kaohsiung Luzhu Global Factory, industrial water pumps entering the supply chains of major US and Japanese machine tool makers, shipments of server-grade technology pumps, and the launch of newly developed submersible pumps. The company is very optimistic about its 2026 business outlook.
At its investor conference on November 27, 2025, Gigastorage Corporation shared details regarding its strategic shift from its early photovoltaic (PV) business toward AI computing, cooling, and personal health micro-sensing. In the HPC and AI fields, Gigastorage has invested in direct forming technology (DFT). This technique leverages the high hardness of diamond abrasives to directly machine deep, tall two-dimensional fin structures onto heat-dissipating materials, improving thermal resistance performance by approximately 20%. It overcomes the technical bottlenecks of traditional cooling solutions, allowing fins to be directly integrated into GPU modules while precisely controlling the base thickness below 0.2mm, targeting top-tier applications such as HPC and vertical AI cooling.
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