The necessity of having nuclear power plants has been under debate recently in Taiwan. Taiwan-based solar wafer maker Gigastorage has suggested four ways that the government can take to address the country's energy issues: increase solar installation capacity, amend laws regarding the electricity industry, subsidize installations on abandoned farmlands, and loosen restrictions to allow insurance companies and trust funds to invest into solar installations.
Gigastorage noted that the cost of using solar to generate power has been falling significantly in recent years, and hence the government should aggressively increase the percentage of power generated by renewable energy sources.
The firm added that despite the investments for solar PV systems at the initial stage are relatively high, the operating and maintenance costs are low. In addition, Gigastorage stated, solar is the least polluting renewable energy source and Taiwan has a complete supply chain from materials, wafers, cells, modules, PV inverters to system design, and hence Taiwan can be self-sufficient in producing solar installations.
Gigastorage believes the government should increase the solar installation limit per year from 100MW to 500MW or higher. In addition, the government can amend the laws regarding the electricity industry and give permits to large-size installations. Furthermore, Taiwan has 210,000 hectares of abandoned farmlands, which can be used to install large-size solar PV systems. Gigastorage also suggests the possibility of allowing financial firms such as trust funds to invest in solar power plants.
The firm pointed out that the average effective sunshine hours in central and southern Taiwan are about four hours. For every kW, the systems can generate around 1,450kWh of electricity per year. For every kWh of electricity generated by a solar PV system at a size around 5-8MW, the cost (taking into consideration of construction costs, 20 years of amortization, as well as operating and maintenance costs), is only NT$2.7 (US$0.09), said Gigastorage. Normally, a solar PV system can last for 25 years, so if the amortization is spread over 25 years, the cost of producing electricity will only be NT$2.3/kWh, added Gigastorage.
Power generated from solar PV systems can meet electricity demand during peak hours during the day or in the summer. For industrial use, the electricity price during the peak hours in the day is higher than the night price. The current price during the peak hours in the day is around NT$3.15/kWh, and in October 2013 the price is expected to increase to NT$3.5/kWh. An average household uses around 700kWh of electricity per month; that means the price of electricity is around NT$3.37/kWh. In October, after the expected price hike, the electricity price for households is likely to increase to NT$3.58/kWh. Compared to these prices, the cost of generating power using solar energy is relatively low and quite competitive, according to Gigastorage.
Taiwan is the second largest producer of solar cells in the world with more than 40,000 employees in the industry. But total solar installations in Taiwan amount to only 200MW, accounting for less than 1% of total electricity generated. The figure is very small compared to neighboring countries such as Japan and China, said Gigastorage.
Many countries have been improving domestic solar technologies and may reach grid parity within two years. Therefore, Gigastorage hopes the government can consider abandoning nuclear power when there is another safer and more competitive renewable energy source readily available.