Council of Agriculture tightens guard against solar power grabbing farmland; solar industry sharply criticizes Chen Chi-chung as "out of touch," calls for release of agricultural, forestry, fishery and pastoral land
On July 7, the Council of Agriculture announced amendments to the "Direction Points for Review of Applications by Competent Agricultural Authorities for Consent to Changes in Use of Agricultural Land." Cases involving the use of agricultural land for solar power development will face stricter review. In the future, change cases involving solar power development of 2 hectares or more will be reviewed by the central government; for those under 2 hectares, apart from "scattered agricultural land surrounded by or interspersed with other land uses," change may be approved by local governments, while all other agricultural land will not be approved for change.
The Council of Agriculture's abrupt policy revision was regarded as progress in protecting agricultural land, farmers' and fishermen's livelihoods, and the ecological environment, but solar industry players described it as the "July 7 Incident" and sharply attacked it. Today (7/13), legislators Hung Shen-han and Chou Chun-mi held a public hearing, inviting industry, government, academic and civil society groups concerned about solar power development to attend, to debate "the necessity of solar power development's demand for agricultural land."
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung said that the proportion of rooftop installations should be reconsidered, rather than stirring up the sensitive issue of releasing agricultural land, which triggers societal criticism of green energy and casts a negative shadow over the overall energy transition policy. Hong Chuan-hsien, chairman of the Taiwan Solar Photovoltaic Industry Association, criticized the Council of Agriculture for "departmentalism," arguing that afforestation land and fallow land should be released for solar power generation. Environmental groups demanded that the Ministry of Economic Affairs promptly introduce "environmental and social screening" regulations, while Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng did not give a clear response.
Council of Agriculture: We support green energy policy, but must also balance farmers' and fishermen's rights, production, and ecological security
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung said, "The Council of Agriculture's position is to support green energy development," but he also said that the process of promoting green energy does not mean relying entirely on solar photovoltaics. The agricultural sector has other options such as biogas power generation and rooftop power generation systems for the livestock industry. He stressed that "if we step outside the Council of Agriculture's position," green energy development should not lean toward relying on land-based solar panels, and this issue is worth discussing.
Chen believes that the current 2025 target plan: 6GW rooftop-type and 14GW ground-mounted-type, and this ratio needs to be reconsidered. Chen also asked rhetorically: "Why not 14GW rooftop-type? We have already installed nearly 1GW on livestock farm rooftops. We have more than 15,000 livestock farms, and we used the dumbest method, asking one by one, plus we also asked the collection and distribution centers. After taking stock, the Council of Agriculture's rooftop-type installations can contribute 4GW. There are so many rooftops across Taiwan, yet the agricultural sector's rooftops are actually the fewest."
In fact, Council of Agriculture data shows that in 108 ROC year (2019), the agricultural sector accounted for only 1.15% of electricity use, but of the 4150MW of renewable energy already installed, the agricultural sector contributed 1361MW, or 33%. Chen believes that increasing the rooftop-type target is the way to ease the pressure to release agricultural land and the pressure on food self-sufficiency.
Chen believes that repeated reports on disputes over solar power development on agricultural land, cutting trees to generate electricity, and fishery-solar coexistence have been widely shared online, leading to the stigmatization of green energy policy. The Council of Agriculture has a responsibility to defend green energy policy, which is why it stepped forward to revise the relevant regulations. He also repeatedly stressed that only under the three preconditions of farmers' and fishermen's rights and interests, agricultural production, and ecological environment security can agricultural land possibly be released in support of green energy policy.
Ministry of Economic Affairs: Land disputes are not a one-day matter; we hope solar power and land-use disputes can coexist and prosper together
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng pointed out that the current dispute is: "Must green energy really use so much flatland-type solar power?" He believes that many of Taiwan's problems stem from chaotic land use, which creates a poor public impression, for example, "agricultural land that looks like an industrial zone, while industrial zones do not look like industrial zones," which is the main source of disputes over flatland-type solar power development.
To resolve the disputes, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has also proposed an "environmental and social screening" mechanism, hoping to promote the coexistence and mutual prosperity of solar photovoltaics and land production. He also pointed out that a benchmark enterprise (TSMC) has already pre-purchased offshore wind power five years ahead, which is an important signal representing the future trend of industry and green energy demand.
In response to industry demands to release land, Tseng Wen-sheng did not respond directly, only stressing that reducing Taiwan's carbon emissions and reducing pollution are urgent global environmental challenges. To resolve the dilemma between the land demand for green energy development and land use, he hopes to seek the coexistence and mutual prosperity of solar power and land production through the environmental and social screening system.
Solar industry: Energy policy level is insufficient; hope to raise it to the Executive Yuan
Tsai Tsung-jung, chairman of the Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation System Commercial Association, argued that "before ministries formulate new policies, they should fully communicate with industry players and stay grounded," implicitly criticizing Chen Chi-chung for disregarding the interests of the solar industry. Tsai stressed that the biggest risk for industry participation in solar photovoltaics is "policy uncertainty," arguing that the Bureau of Energy's level is insufficient to coordinate among ministries and that energy policy should be elevated to the Executive Yuan level.
Using epidemic prevention as an example, he said that because authority was centralized and fully delegated, epidemic control could succeed smoothly. He believes that "to promote the solar industry, there must be a Chen Shih-chung-type role."
Hong Chuan-hsien, chairman of the Taiwan Solar Photovoltaic Industry Association, directly called out the Council of Agriculture's "departmentalism," saying that Chen Chi-chung's stance was "support the policy, but do not touch mine," which meant green energy policy would fail before it even began. He also argued that afforestation land and fallow land should be released for solar power generation. He noted that in the past the green energy industry's slogan was "Tsai Ing-wen supports green energy, green energy supports Tsai Ing-wen," but now he believes that "the country does not seem ready (to support green energy)."
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