Land Use Conflicts of Solar
and Current Status ofAquaVoltaics in Taiwan

Yuping Chen台灣環境規劃協會
Taiwan Environment and Planning Association, TE&P•

Founded in 2020, we advocate that environmental
planning and local participation are key to ensuresustainable development of renewable energy.

We provide tools and expertise of integrated planning
Best Practices& Guidelines

Impact assessment
AgriVoltaics && local engagement community energy

Yuping Chen

Founder / Executive Director
Education• MSc Conservation & Biodiversity,University of Exeter, UK• MSc Environmental Sciences,
University of East Anglia, UK• MS in Environmental Health,National Taiwan University

Work Experience• CEO, Taiwan EcologicalEngineering Foundation• Assistant Researcher, Food andLandscape &sense of place

Ecosystem &biodiversity• Executive Secretary, Taiwan

inclusive
solar farm
Dual use of land& sustainability

Fertilizer Technology Center for
the Asian and Pacific Region,
Taipei
Ecological Stewardship
AssociationLocal engagement& benefi• PM and GIS Analyst, Observer

Ecological Consultant Co., Ltd.
2Outline• Energy transition in Taiwan• Land use conflicts of Solar• Past experience of Alibi AgriPV• Current status of AquaPV
2019-2020 Fish farmers protested against the aqua-PV policy• The way forward for Land-based APV3

Japan is 11 times bigger than Taiwan
Japan’s solar capacity is 8 time more than Taiwan

Taiwan’s geography
31% flatland & lowland area (<100 m)
40% hills and plateaus (100~1000 m)
29% high mountainous area (>1000 m)

Density ratio (kW/ha flatland)

110.7

2.7

6.5

0.4

0.2

#2 Japan
13,599 > 78,833#15 Taiwan
410 > 9,4264

Energy transition in TW• Nuclear issue resurfaced• RE installment behind schedule• No sign of energy reductionPresident Tsai’s
RE vision 2016-2023

2025: 20 GW
solar target
2030: 31 GW
2050: 40-80 GW

Expected Energy Mix in Taiwan(%)

No Nuke!

253

3Net Zero!

1Nitrogen

3CCUS

56
2

Resource: Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.

5

Electricity generation of RE is 9.5 %Solar generation is only 4.6 % while taking up roughly 10,000 ha of space
2023

12,418
9.5%
6.3%

39.6%

2016
1.3%

1,245

42.3%

Expected to reach 380,000 GWh by 2050

Resource: Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.

*Geothermal is only 7 MW and not included

6More than 50% of electricity
consumption is for industrial use

Chip industry giant TSMC alone consumes 8%
electricity of the whole country in 2023.

TSMC electricity consumption rate
TSMC (GWh)
All Nation (GWh)
TSMC rate (%)

Expected to reach 12.5 % by 2025
Resource: Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.

782024年末に出荷を控える台湾積体電路製造（TSMC）の新工場（1月、熊本県菊陽町）

2022/12/07

9Land use conflicts of Solar

8 GW Rooftop PV + 12 GW ground-mounted PV = 20 GW 2025 Target

over 6 GW

Resource: Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.

over 4 GW

10Rooftop PV > 6GW

11

Ground-mounted PV > 4 GW
Landfill (933 ha)

Industrial lands (1632 ha)

134 ha, 100 MW
Detention ponds (736 ha)

80 ha, 70 MW
Resource: Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.

Marginal farmland (300 MW)

5.7 ha, 11.2 MW
Old salt pan (400 ha)

214 ha, 150 MW

12

Existing issues of agricultural land
• Food sufficiency rate is 30-35% (CoA 2020):
corn, soy and wheat are mostly imported.

• Agriculture threats: degradation of land, lack oflabour and other capital.

• Loss of farmland (CoA)• Statutory arable land: 760,000 ha,• cultivable land: 570,000 ha,• cultivable flat farmland: 370,000 ha.
Total area of flat farmland occupied by illegal factories ismore than 13,800 hectares, inhabiting over 52,000
factories, accounting for 1.8% of the statutory arable
farmland in Taiwan.

• Solar industry wants 20,000 ha to achieve 20
GW goal.

13

2017
Ill designed / managed APV in 2013 - 20172023

無花果 いちじく2017, 雲林縣
0.38 ha govt. pilot project© 上下游News&Market

仙草 ゼリー2017, 雲林縣
0.25 ha govt. pilot project14

仙草ゼリー© www.tydares.gov.tw

15

2013 - 2017, APV application is over 500 cases
2016, Tainan city banned 90 mushroom APV
2017, Agriculture Ministry listed 82 bad cases and 41 were later banned16Mushroom
2018, 雲林縣0.495 ha indoor facility
Among 18 rooms only 2-3 are functioning© 上下游News&Market

Venilla2016, 屏東縣
231 m2 green house17

Rotating model
Elephant grass, sweet potato© 上下游News&Market2022, 嘉義縣Govt. pilot projectFixed model (Japanese style)mellow, squash, sweet potato

18Energy Transition in Taiwan

2050 Net Zero roadmap
40-80 GW solar by 2050
Amendmentof Electricity
Act No Nukeby 2025

Agriculture Ministry

Amendmentof RE Act
20 GW solar
by 2025

Referendum on
restarting the 4th
Nuclear Power
Plant failed

Amendment tostop APV

Lots of alibi APV
were approved

2016
2019
2011
million household reaching 1.52ＧＷ reaching 6.5 GW
solar by 2020
rooftop PVs
by 2018/6/30

mission oriented, targeting solar industry not citizens

President Lai

2021

2020

2019
2018

Reinforcement ofAPV legislation

Amendment toallow APV

Economic Ministry

2017

2015

2013

20092016

Renewable Energy
Development Act
FIT

2022

President Tsai
20% RE by2025

2025
2024

Amendments torevive APV?

Referendum on
cancelling No Nuke
policy passed

Lots of smallfarmland
conversion
approved

Amendments to1) ban small farmland conversion2) promote Aqua PV
19

Aqua PV in Taiwan• Est. 45,481 ha (35.6% fish, 64.4% shrimps & clams)• Est. 100,000 farmers, mostly tenants• High density aquaculture prone to disease• Highly susceptible to weather and water quality• Health and environmental issues• Less solar dependent than crops

aeratorauto feeder

Farms over-flooded by rainstorm

Pumping of underground water

Cold-snap damage

20

Aqua PV in Taiwan

Agricultural Ministry has announced 20,000 ha of fish
ponds eligible for AquaPV application,
expecting 4.4 GW of solar capacity by 2025.
https://www.agriharvest.tw/archives/23043

淡水魚の池

海の魚の池
網生簀

浅海で飼育

Others14,122 ha

20,304 ha21• Over 300 years of history.
• Modernization in the 60s(artificial propagation, feed•

and other technology)
Total yield around 23m ton
per year (27% export)

Common species of aquaculture and raising means
淡水魚の池サバヒー 最大のmilkfish エリア

8,708 ha19% area
1.3m ton

うなぎ

eelalgae

Traditional milkfish farms
aeratorCommercial farms

カキoyster

海の魚の池
ティラピア 最も生産

tilapia

4,418 ha10% area
6.1m ton

性が高いドリー

cobra

ハマグリ

clam

浅海で飼育

網生簀

ハタ

シーバス

最高のgrouper 生産額

1,589 ha9.8% area
19,879 ton

sea bass
1,173 ha7.2% area
0.9m ton(CoA, 2022)

snapper

白エビ
white shrimp

タイワンシジミ
freshwater clam

タイのエビ
Thai shrimp

スナッパー

https://www.agriharvest.tw/archives/23043

22

Societal aspects: Tenants & Feasibility
Infrastructure largely unimproved for decades.
Most farmers old without land or enterprise.

clam harvest

fish harvest

Environmental aspect: Bird conservation
Open fish farms are drained in the wintertime,
providing feeding sites for migratory birds.

23

Call for a new mechanism

Jun. 2020© 生多所

No EIA? Do ESA (Environmental &Appraisal)& Social
Societal
Impact Assessment)

1.

For the first 6
applications
already passed

Conditional
permission
Funding for conservation2.

For the 7thproposal underreview

3.

For all new aqua-PV
proposals in thefuture…

TE&P did apilot ESIA1524

We performed the first ESA (2020年10-12月)

Feasibility of Aqua PV
PV coverage < 40%
Annual yield > 70%
Wind & Erosion
Operational space

旭康七股下山子寮漁電共生專區空間配置示意圖
基地總面積：577,448m2
設施覆蓋率：28.40%
總建置容量：32,445.27KW
光電總片數：98,319pcs

往台61

蓄水池(A/C)｜水面型
建置容量14,652KW
高壓設備5套
使用面積73,706.52m2

南31深淺池(E/F)｜淺坪&聯通道
支架建置容量9,187.2KW
高壓設備4套
使用面積46,676.307m2
專養池(B/G)｜聯通道支架建置容量8,606.07KW
高壓設備2套
使用面積43,628.378m2
支架/5米寬道路剖面圖

道路筏式基礎示意圖

25

Land use changes
environmental baseline• Fish ponds appeared before 1947
• Change crops between 1985 and 1991
• Largely abandoned after 20111985年4月26日攝

1991年2月24日攝

1947

1999年5月17日攝

2011年10月10日攝

26

Habitat Survey
ecological baseline

27

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30

Open Aqua PV Indoor Aqua PV
PV coverage restriction< 40 %< 80 %

ESA requirement

YesNo

Expected capacity by 2025

3,511 MW916 MW

Total capacity by 2023/6368 MW138 MW

Area approved by 2023/5

638 ha1,117 haOpen Aqua PV, panels on the banks

Indoor Aqua PV facility
aquaculture operating corner31

Aqua PV is socially unpopular32

Landscape in the west coast changes dramatically due to resent solar development

operating salt pan(closed in 2000)

Red mark: Utility-scale solar park
Yellow mark: Utility-scale Open Aqua PV33

6 NGOs jointly adopted the old salt
pans for habitat conservation in 2021

將軍漁港Ｄ270 haAＥ青鯤鯓

頂山 ＦＢＣ七股鹽山Red areas are of highest ecological value
34

Thank You!
ypchen@tep.org.tw