Taiwan feed-in tariff sliced in line with equipment prices

The Taiwanese government has reduced the feed-in tariffs for solar power for 2011 by approximately 30% from the levels in 2010 due to the falling cost of solar photovoltaics installation equipment, reports Bloomberg.

State-run Taiwan Power will now pay NT$7.33 (€0.184501) per kilowatt-hour for power generated from ground mounted solar installations, compared with NT$11.12 (€0.279897) for 2010, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement on January 28th. The 2011 price for roof-top solar power is as high as NT$10.32 (€0.259637).

Solar cell prices may decline 10 to 15% this year, said Chang Ping-heng, chief executive officer of Motech Industries, Taiwan’s biggest solar cell maker by market value. Global annual capacity to produce solar cells may climb to as much as 30GW in 2011, Chang said December 1st.

“Solar power costs may fall further,” Hwang Jung-chiou, vice minister of economic affairs, said in a press conference in Taipei today.

Feed-in tariffs are at least NT$11.12/kWh (€0.279784) for PV solar panels installed in 2010, the Bureau of Energy said in a statement on its website in December 2009. Taiwan’s government strategically set the FiT for electricity generated by solar panels at higher levels than for those for power from fossil fuels in a bid to spur production of renewable energy. The average cost of energy generated by fossil fuels such as coal and oil is NT$2.06/kWh (€0.0518457). President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in May 2008, has pledged to cut emissions to 2000 levels by 2025. Lawmakers approved the island’s Renewable Energy Development Act in 2009.

The government aims to have 100MW of onshore wind power capacity and 70MW of photovoltaic panels installed this year.