Mitigating Environmental and Social Impacts of Aquavoltaics in Taiwan: Policy Design and Implementation

©ITRI. Industrial Technology Research Institute
Mitigating Environmental and Social
Impacts of Aquavoltaics in Taiwan:
Policy Design and Implementation
Presenter
Ya-Hsuan Chiu
Associate Researcher | chiu.yahsuan@itri.org.tw
ITRI Green Energy & Environment Research Lab
2022.06.15
1
Authors: Ya-hsuan Chiu, Yi-chen Yang, Win-kai Hsieh, Hsiu-chuan
Lin, Hung-ju Chiu, Bing-shun Huang, Ping Li, Ming-lung Hung

©ITRI. Industrial Technology Research Institute 2022/06/15
• Introduction
• The Policy Design of “Environmental and Social
Inspection for Fishery and Electricity Symbiosis
System”
• Results and Discussion
Outline
2

©ITRI. Industrial Technology Research Institute 2022/06/15 3
• Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)
 Green Energy & Environment Research Lab
• Think Tank assisting the Bureau of Energy of
Taiwan
#EnergyPolicy
#EnergyModeling
#PublicEngagement
#Communication
Participatory
Governance
Advancing the
Energy Transition
Energy Transition
Whitepaper
Long-term
Energy Modeling
Introduction

 Renewable energy target:
 20GW of PV installation by 2025
 4.4GW in Fishery and Electricity
Symbiosis system (Aquavoltics)
 ~ ¼ of fish farms in Taiwan
Transition to low-carbon electricity system
Multi-use solar due to land scarcity
 Aquavoltaics: achieve energy transition
while remaining the original function of the
fish farm
4
Introduction

 Existing land use plan and regulations
 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is only required for renewables
> 2,000kW or locating on protected wetlands
Obstacles of promoting ground-mounted PVs
Introduction
5
 Concerns from the public and NGOs
 the impacts on ecological habitat, environmental and cultural landscape,
and food supply
 Fish farms provide ecosystem services and habitat
Attracting
Cultural
Tourism
Serving as
Detention Ponds
Providing habitats for
birds and bats

Obstacles of promoting ground-mounted PVs
Introduction
Concerns
from the
Fishery
Workers and
Landowners
Effects of PV
system to the
fishpond
environment
Effects of
the shading
to the
aquaculture
Tenant
farmers’
working
rights
Effects on
land or
rental prices
Safeguard
during the
20-yearlong
contract
periods
PV repair
and
maintenanc
e
Law
enforcement
Source: News & Market

Policy Design
7
• Goal: A rapid-screening procedure to find suitable areas for aquavoltaics,
and to guide the PV developers to plan appropriate measures to address
the local issues
Creating Shared Values for All
Source: : Taixi Experimental Fishing Ground,
Seawater Fish Farming Research Center

Policy Design
Four
Principles
Rapid
Screening
Efficiency
Effectivity
Feasibility
 Originally advocated by environmental NGOs
 The shaping of the policy involves a lot of cross-government discussions, multi-
sector collaboration from fishery industry and solar energy, consultation with
NGO partners and experts, and interdisciplinary knowledge of environmental
and social science.
 A procedure that combines information through local community engagement,
geospatial and biodiversity data, expert working groups and field surveys.
Shaping the “Environmental and Social Inspection”

Policy Design
* 32 maps including the environmental sensitive areas, the biodiversity data, and the coastal disaster area.
9
No-go
zone
Attention
zone
Literature
review
Preliminary
mapping *
Field survey
Zone revision
Identify
stakeholders
Interviews &
workshops
Public
consultation
Categorize
opinions
Total fish farms (43,000 ha)
Fast-track
zone
Sensitivity &
Hotspot mapping
yes
Priority
zone
no
Data
analysis
Environmental and social issue identification
Measures 2
Environmental-
and Social-
Friendly Measures
Checklist
Mitigation
Measures Plan
- Site Selection
- Design and planning
- Construction
- Operation
- Decommission
1
Identify
issues &
propose
suggested
measures
Ecological
mapping
An advisory working group in every county with members including the central and regional government,
environmental groups and local associations, and researchers overlook and provide consultation.
Overall Procedure of the “Environmental and Social Inspection”

By identifying areas suitable for aquavoltaics, there will be a map
of the location of the issues and different zones
Fast-track zone Priority zone
Attention zone
No-go zone
10
Policy Design
area that is less environmentally
or socially sensitve
area with existing or potential
environmental or social issues
restricted or protected area where
the installaton of Photovoltaics or
Fishery and Electricity Symbiosis
system is prohibited by law

The process of environmental issue inspection
11
Policy Design
Data Collection
Field Survey Map Issues and Zones
Interview and Workshops
Endangered
Bird Observed
Spots
Environmental
Sensitivity
Area
Biodiversity
Network
Fishery
Data
Maps Layering
Working Group Onsite Visit
Disaster
Prevention

The process of social issue inspection
12
Policy Design
workshops
interviews
interviews
public consultations

(1) Land usage
• Local acceptance of land use change
and PV projects
• The legality of the current fish farm
usage
(2) Public facilities and services
• Location of public facilities
• National spatial planning & urban planning
• The potential impact to the public facilities
(3) Economy and livelihood
• The potential impact on fish farm
production
• Employment opportunities from
aquavoltaics
(4) Social relationship
• Indigenous people or local communities
• Space related to celebrations, festivities,
religious practices, or other local activities
(e.g. pilgrimages, flower festivals)
• Tenants, landlords and other stakeholders
of fish farm
(5) Culture
• Historical sites and the old trees
• Cultural activities
13
(6) Ecology and the environment
• Eco-tourism
• Specific local environmental condition
(7) Others
The elements of social issue inspection
13
Policy Design

 Apply Participatory GIS in interviews, workshops, and public consultations
with printed and virtual maps (e.g., Google Maps)
 Collect information and mitigating measures suggestions referred to space
Collecting information from the local stakeholders
Policy Design
14

Results and Discussion
As of the mid 2022, more than 10,000
hectares of potential Aquavoltaics areas
have passed through this process and
have been announced.
• Environmental issues: water birds and
bats using the fishponds, and wetlands or
other vulnerable ecosystems nearby.
• Social issues: folk traditional activities,
religious detours, tourism resources, or
pre-participation.
Web-GIS Platform

• The Environmental and Social Inspection provides a clear direction for the
solar industries to design mitigation measures to tackle the ecological and
social impact.
• A successful and just energy transition requires communication and
collaboration with the stakeholders, and the role and tasks of the energy
planning department is changing.
• The fishery community are having more platforms to voice out and discuss
their concern. Meanwhile, the types of collaboration between fishery and
power industry are evolving, and hopefully we are looking forward to more
participation from the fishery side.
16

 Challenges
 As there have been few cases in Aquavoltaics around the world and
the impacts are still unknown, it is necessary to create discussions
about best practices, and provide trainings and adequate
information for the PV industry and the consultant industry.
 Could the policy tool become a modular design for other types of
ground-mounted PV in Taiwan?
 Discussion
 Are there any conflicts of multi-purpose PVs happening in your
country?
 How can the government guide the development of multi-purpose
PVs and reduce potential the impacts?
17

漁電共生環社檢核網站
www.sfea.org.tw
Thank you
www.sfea.org.tw
twsfea@gmail.com
chiu.yahsuan@itri.org.tw
(03)591-8509
18
Environmental and Social
Inspection for Fishery and
Electricity Symbiosis system

Mitigating Environmental and Social Impacts of Aquavoltaics in Taiwan: Policy Design and Implementation

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