Taiwan has broken ground on a 120-kilowatt-hour solar power system on Taiping Island in the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration said Sept. 8.
“In undertaking this project, which we expect to finish before the end of this year, we are fulfilling two policy objectives first outlined by ROC President Ma Ying-jeou last November,” the CGA said.
“We are transforming Taiping into the nation’s first low-carbon island, and we are reaffirming ROC sovereignty over the place.”
The solar power system is expected to generate 153,399 kwh per year, thereby saving NT$536,550 (US$18,502) annually, the CGA said.
“To be built at a cost of NT$22 million, it is the largest solar project ever undertaken and financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs,” the CGA added.
Taiping’s energy needs are currently met by importing diesel oil, which has to be shipped from Taiwan, according to the CGA.
A small portion of its power supply also comes from a solar power system installed in 2001 and capable of generating 20.3 kwh, the CGA said.
Located 1,384 kilometers southeast of Kaohsiung City, Taiping is the largest of the Nansha Islands. In addition to Taiping, in the South China Sea the ROC also exercises sovereignty over the Dongsha, Xisha and Zhongsha islands.
