Vice Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin says the incoming administration will allot more land for the installation of solar equipment. He was speaking Monday at a solar power industry conference.
Shen said the incoming administration is planning to make use of land that’s polluted, not conducive to farming, or has shown signs of sinking. He said that so far the Council of Agriculture has dedicated 1,253 hectare of land. But that’s just a small part of the total land that’s needed.
“At this stage, the target for land-based solar power facilities is to produce 5.7 gigawatts, and 8,550 hectares of land is needed to reach that goal. In the future, different departments will work together to provide more land, including public land, state-owned land, and land allotted for business use. By setting aside more land, we hope to speed up the installation of solar power facilities," said Shen.
The incoming administration’s goal is for Taiwan’s solar power output to reach 13 gigawatts, by 2025. That’s enough to power 13 mid-sized cities.
Taiwan Solar Energy Corp’s CEO, Liao Kuo-rong, said that at least 23,000 hectares of land is needed to achieve that goal. He says the government should free up more unoccupied land to meet the need.