Taiwan Plans Big On Solar

• Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs is planning to spend NT$992.8 billion ($32.99 billion) on increasing its solar power capacity by 2025
• The country has set targets in phases that will take the cumulative installed solar power capacity to 20 GW by 2025
• Most of this capacity is being planned in the form of ground-mounted power plants to be located in Chiayi County and Tainan city
• Land for these projects may come from abandoned salt farms and farmlands that will no longer be used for the next 20 years
• Government plans to spend NT$680 million ($22.58 million) to create a solar energy platform in the next two years

Taiwan has announced that it plans to spend NT$992.8 billion ($32.99 billion) on increasing its solar power capacity to 20 GW by 2025.

Director-General of the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Lin Chuan-neng said in the next two years, the country will aim to have a total installed solar power capacity of 1.52 GW from the existing 1.34 GW, reported Taiwan News.

The idea is to have 6.5 GW solar power capacity by 2020 and scale it up to 20 GW by 2025. Out of this targeted capacity, 17 GW is expected to come from ground-mounted solar panels, the other 3 GW would come from rooftop solar power.

Most of these plants are likely to be set up in abandoned salt farms in Chiayi Country and Tainan city. The Bureau of Energy is now seeking investors in the southern Chiayi County.

The Bureau of Energy is also in touch with the Council of Agriculture (COA) to figure out if some farmlands can also be converted into solar farms for 20 years. COA apparently has 12,000 hectares of land that it thinks can be used to develop ground-mounted solar power capacity.

For rooftop solar capacity, it aims to install panels on government buildings, poultry farms, factories and residential complexes.

Taiwan News reported that the government plans to spend NT$680 million ($22.58 million) to create a solar energy platform in the next two years. Taiwan Power Co., will spend NT$52.6 billion ($1.75 billion) to execute installation plans from 2017 to 2024.

Private investors are expected to spend a total of NT$939.5 billion ($31.20 billion) from 2017 to 2024.