The government formally opened a new solar power system on Taiwan’s Taiping Island in the South China Sea Tuesday to cement its sovereignty over the disputed territory and help turn the Spratly archipelago into a “low-carbon island.”
The 120-kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar power system, built near the island’s cultural park next to an airstrip, will generate an estimated 175,920 kilowatt hours of electricity per year while saving fuel costs of NT$735,346 (US$24,266), said Chang Te-hao, director of the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA’s) South Coast Guard Bureau.
The solar power system will replace 16.8 percent of the electricity currently produced by diesel generators, Chang said at the system’s inauguration ceremony on Taiping. At present, the island still relies mainly on diesel generators for electricity, but fuel costs and carriage are expensive.
The Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has invested NT$21.99 million in the solar power system project, according to CGA officials.
The CGA previously built a solar power system on Taiping in 2001 that had a capacity of 20.3 kWp, an amount of electricity sufficient to supply electricity to four households on Taiwan proper, but that facility has been removed. Building Taiping into a “low-carbon island” was an idea promoted by President Ma Ying-jeou in a South China Sea policy meeting in November 2010.
The initiative hopes to cement Taiwan’s sovereignty in the area by focusing on scientific research and environmental protection. In addition to Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also claim all or part of the Spratly archipelago. Taiping Island is the biggest island in the Spratly chain and is currently manned by more than 100 Coast Guard troops from Taiwan.
