Taiwan’s latest draft Feed-in-Tariff scheme proposed to decrease the payments by 0.34~2.44%, which would make the new FiT NT$3.9408-5.7788/kWh (US$0.13-0.19). The highest FiT payments would be for residential PV projects.

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Winner: Residential PV, Loser: Wind Energy

Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy has recently announced its draft FiT scheme for several types of renewable energy, which is set to be approved by the end of December.

Compared with the FiT in 2018, the proposed FiT payments for the residential PV systems would decrease by 0.34%, while those for the utility PV system would decrease by 2.2%.

The biggest loser of all would be wind energy, decreasing by 7% from NT$5.5 (US$0.18) in 2019 to NT$5.09 (US$0.17) in the 2020 proposal.

Special PV Projects That Get Higher Rates  

In a bid to facilitate the PV installations, PV developers would be eligible for a boost in the FiT payments, if their projects could fit under the following categories:

1. Solar-powered playgrounds (FiT increased by 6%)
2. Rooftop PV projects in the remote areas or lands inhabited by indigenous people (FiT increased by 1%)

Solar-powered playgrounds
The FiT for the Solar-powered playgrounds is the same as that for ground-mounted projects, which is lower than the payments for the rooftop PV projects.

However, the Solar-powered playgrounds need to be elevated to be at least 6-7 meters above the ground. This would increase the cost drastically.

Green Energy Roof projects get a 3% tariff increase
Ministry of Economic Affairs has initiated a project called “Green Energy Roof”, where service providers are selected by local authorities to help building owners install and manage PV systems. The excess generated power will be sold to the grid.

The Bureau of Energy proposed that the PV projects under Green Energy Roof would be eligible for a 3% tariff increase.

It is encouraged to deploy PV modules that are certified as high efficiency by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI).

The PV projects, in which the said PV modules are deployed, would be rewarded with a 6% increase in the FiT.

The Drop in FiT for Wind Power Is Expected

The suggested decrease in FiT for the offshore wind power is within the previous expectation.

The 20-year fixed FiT for offshore wind power has dropped by 7.5% from NT$ 5.5 (US$0.18) to NT$5.09 (US$0.17), which is slightly higher than the original estimate.

Sources:

• Taiwanese government proposes solar tariffs of US$0.13-0.19/kWh
• Taiwan’s 2020 FiT Proposal: Solar Dropped by 2.44%, Offshore Wind Dropped by 7.5% (Traditional Chinese)
• The Proposal of 2020 Fit for Renewable Energy Expected to Be Completed by the End of the Year (Traditional Chinese)