Rooftop, Ground, Agri-voltaics, and Aqua-voltaics

[Reporter: Hui-Wen Chang, Taipei] The Sustainable Development Association of the Solar Photovoltaic Industry held a board meeting on the 18th. Chairman Tsai Jia-Jin highlighted the significant demand for green electricity in Taiwan's tech industry, emphasizing that TSMC's (2330) requirement for RE100 compliance should be a top priority for the government. He expressed hope that by 2025, the government will implement a "Four Arrows" strategy—rooftop, ground-mounted, agri-voltaics, and aqua-voltaics—to bring new opportunities for the industry.

The solar power installations this year amounted to only 1.8GW, falling significantly behind schedule. However, Tsai mentioned that to promote renewable energy development, government agencies recently held discussions with solar industry associations, expressing their commitment to supporting the sector. He stressed that the solar industry must advance on all fronts, including rooftop photovoltaics, ground-mounted photovoltaics, agri-voltaics, and aqua-voltaics, without favoring one over the others. Currently, only rooftop photovoltaics have met installation targets ahead of schedule. Tsai urged the government to address the serious delays in ground-mounted solar projects, review land use issues, and achieve the 2026 target of 20GW installed solar capacity and the 2030 goal of solar power contributing 30% to total energy.

Reviewing Agricultural Green Energy Land Use Strategies

He emphasized that Taiwan's agricultural green energy land-use strategies should adhere to a "negative list" approach, avoiding a shift back to positive listing after implementation. Large-scale distributed ground-mounted power stations cannot be built overnight; each phase, from application to interconnection and completion, requires approximately 55 months based on experience. Additionally, the land execution process has about a 20% failure rate. Over time, land acquisition has slowed, increasing "sunk costs" and potentially deterring developers.

Tsai also pointed out that Taiwan is aggressively developing its semiconductor and AI industries, which are heavily reliant on renewable energy. The semiconductor industry, in particular, faces pressing renewable energy demands under international RE100 commitments. TSMC currently utilizes only 10% renewable energy in Taiwan, far from the 100% target. Tsai urged the government to take corporate green electricity needs seriously to prevent limitations on securing international orders.

Source: Liberty Times