Taiwan prisoners help install solar panels, part of push in renewable energy

Record ID: 401433

  • Title: Taiwan prisoners help install solar panels, part of push in renewable energy
  • Date: 8th March 2017
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT'S RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT, LAURENCE LI, SAYING: "How do we release the resources from the government and pull in the strength from the people, so that the investors can come in to invest in this industry, the people can participate, and that all the stakeholders can participate, that's very important." TAIPEI, TAIWAN (RECENT -
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2017 06:23
  • Keywords: Taiwan solar panels energy renewables green energy prison inmates
  • Location: PINGTUNG, TAICHUNG, TAIPEI, TAIWAN
  • City: PINGTUNG, TAICHUNG, TAIPEI, TAIWAN
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Topics: Environment,Climate Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA003673MB0L
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: On Pingtung jail's sun-lit roof, prisoner no. 24 has a view of a brighter future.
    Ex-cop Chen, serving time for bribery, is learning how to install solar panels in a programme that's part of Taiwan's vision of a future without nuclear power.
    The 48-year-old is working on a project that has seen the southern Taiwan prison become the first to send solar power into the island's electricity grid.
    "Green energy is the trend now. The government has been pushing for it and I think it is very good for the environment. So it is very meaningful for me to participate in this," said Chen, whose full name cannot be disclosed under prison rules. He should be out in a couple of years, and thinks that this would help in finding a job.
    Chen is one of six prisoners that the prison deemed to have shown good behaviour, and could therefore spend time up on the roof fitting the panels.
    The solar project is expected to be fully completed in March, and will have a solar energy capacity of 1.8 megawatts (MW), enough to supply electricity to 639 average Taiwanese households for a year.
    But that is just a drop-in-the-ocean of energy needed to make the island nuclear-free by 2025, a pledge taken by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen when she took power in 2016.
    Nuclear accounts for around 14 percent of Taiwan's total power generation. Renewable sources, including solar, wind and hydro, together account for less than 5 percent, leaving the 2025 goal of having renewables - primarily solar - account for a fifth of supply by 2025 looking like a mirage.
    The chief of project manager Taichung-based Lixma Tech Co Thomas Hsu said the arithmetic was simple: It's not possible for renewables, dependent on weather conditions, to be a main supply source.
    He added that the prison's 10,000 square metre roof space was ideal.
    "I believe Pingtung prison is probably the only jail in the world with this large space for green energy, so it has a good promotional effect," Hsu said.
    At Pintung prison, where temperatures outside can peak around 33 degrees Celsius in summer, the extra layer of 6,000 solar panels on its 10,000 square metre roof space meant temperature inside the building is brought down.
    "The people receiving counselling in this correctional facility, they can have a better environment, not so humid and hot as Pingtung is a very hot region," Hsu added.
    With plentiful sunshine at its disposal, Taiwan has made progress in expanding solar energy in recent years. From current capacity of about 1,061 megawatts, Taipei is targeting about double that amount by mid-2018.
    To match official government targets of having solar power account for 73 percent of total renewable energy capacity by 2025, though, Taiwan would need nearly 20 times' current solar generation capacity within nine years - about 20,000 megawatts. That kind of power could mean panels taking up around 25,000 hectares of space on the island - nearly the size of capital Taipei.
    While Taiwan needs a massive rollout of renewables to meet its lofty goals, experts and industry insiders say roadblocks are numerous.
    Problems in grid transmission for renewable energy, outdated regulations governing a power industry long dominated by state monopoly Taiwan Power Co - known as Taipower - environmental concerns and rival interests among government agencies and local communities are among issues to be overcome.
    While a key player in encouraging renewables projects like the Pingtung prison, Taipower is also the principal operator of Taiwan's nuclear energy industry, as well as coal and liquefied natural gas plants. Financing development is another issue.
    At Pingtung prison, Lixma shoulders all costs and says it will receive around T$9 million ($292,000) a year from Taipower for the solar power from the prison. Lixma CEO Hsu said the firm won't break even on the project until the ninth year of its 20-year contract with the prison and Taipower.
    For Chen, fixing in the solar panels is a temporary respite. Once the installation is complete, he'll return to tending crops on prison grounds, part of his regular prison life.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register