Lowered Solar FIT Rates Come Into Effect In Taiwan

• Taiwan's MOEA has revised FIT rates for rooftop, ground mounted and floating solar PV systems with effect from January 1, 2020
• Rates have been revised downwards for rooftop solar in the range of 1.5% to 2.4%, while for ground mounted projects the rates have been pulled down by 2.5%
• Floating PV projects will get 2.27% less FIT in 2020 as compared to 2019
• The ministry has also announced higher FIT rates for certain categories of solar such as projects using high-efficiency technology or those being set up in remote/aboriginal ethnic areas, among others

Taiwan has lowered its feed-in-tariff (FIT) rates for solar power capacity in the country with effect from January 1, 2020 as announced by the country's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) which has finalized the rates after 'intensive discussions' with various stakeholders.

Market intelligence firm PV InfoLink has illustrated the changed FIT structure on its website. For rooftop solar power installations, the FIT cap has been brought down from 2019 levels by 1.5% to 2.4% with various capacity ranges per kWh. In this category in Phase 2, it has further lowered FIT levels for project capacities in the range of 20 kW to 100 kW and for those between 100 kW to 500 kW by an additional 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively.

For ground mounted solar PV system with 1 kW and above, the downward revision has been to the tune of 2.5% at TWD 3.9383 ($0.13) per kWh under Phase 1 for 2020. For Phase 2, there will be a further reduction of 1.6% to TWD 3.8752 per kWh, as per the new list.

Changes in the FIT structure have also been introduced for floating PV deployments with Phase 1 2020 connections eligible for TWD 4.3319 ($0.14) per kWh FIT, a YoY drop of 2.27%, which will be further reduced by another 1.4% to TWD 4.2709 per kWh under Phase 2.

On the other hand, rooftop solar projects that are installed in aboriginal ethnic or remote areas will be eligible for 1% a higher FIT rate, while those located in the north of Miaoli, Yilan and Hualien areas can get a 15% higher rate. A similar increase will be given to renewable energy systems installed in the country's outlying islands.

Rooftop solar projects installed in the residential segment will be eligible for a 3% higher rate, points out PV InfoLink. Those using high-efficiency solar PV modules that meet the requirements of MOEA's Standards Inspection Bureau will get a 6% higher FIT rate. Further details of the new FIT rates can be viewed online on the MOEA website.

Within the first nine months of 2019, Taiwan installed 1.34 GW of new solar PV capacity, increasing the rate of deployments by 27.9% on an annual basis, as per the information previously shared by MOEA (see Taiwan Installed 1.34 GW New Solar In 9M/2019).

According to the analysis of EnergyTrend, part of TrendForce, by September 2019 Taiwan's cumulative solar power installations had reached 3.8 GW and it sees 2020 FITs to help the country achieve its goal of 6.5 GW of cumulative PV capacity in 2020.