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Chenglong Wetland's ten years of achievement under threat from solar power, developer clarifies unaware of ecological controversy

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Solar power encroaches on Chenglong Wetland 02"Ten years of wetland creation a success, yet solar power barges in; developer clarifies: unaware of ecological controversy

(Continued from previous article) Located on the coast of Chenglong Village, Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, the area was ravaged by Typhoon Wayne over thirty years ago, turning farmland into wasteland. Today it has gradually become a vibrant wetland, and even hosts a well-known wetland environmental art festival. Just as residents were gradually building consensus toward a vision of a green economy, solar power development arrived.

Birdwatchers who have observed here for years noticed that around the wetland on the north side of Provincial Highway 61, landfilling and pile-driving had begun for a solar power project under construction, with the development site south of Keliao Road. Ground-mounted solar panels have also been gradually erected on the north side of Chenglong Elementary School, and many other plots of land are awaiting landowner consent for development rights.

The shadow of solar power development actually approached Chenglong Wetland five years ago, but was temporarily held off through the efforts of community leaders and the Guanshu Foundation, which has long worked in this area. They thought they had escaped the scope of ground-mounted solar installation, but unexpectedly rooftop-type projects have now come to build extensively on the wetland.

The indoor aquaculture facility for fishery-solar co-existence under development, located at the road-front position on the south side of Keliao Road, happens to be within the area where residents worked hard to block ground-mounted solar power. (Photo provided by a concerned citizen)

If ground-mounted solar cannot be built on the wetland, why can buildings with rooftop solar be built?

In 2015, the Council of Agriculture announced the "Scope of Agricultural Land in Severely Land-Subsidence Areas Unsuitable for Cultivation Where Green Energy Facilities May Be Installed" (hereafter "Unsuitable Cultivation Area"), in which the water area on the north side of Chenglong Wetland was designated Zone 11, and the area north of Chenglong Elementary School was designated Zone 12 (hereafter Zone A and Zone B). After two years of petitions by the Chenglong community and the Guanshu Foundation, the government compromised, removing Zone A and shrinking the scope of Zone B.

Zone A had clearly been removed, so why was it facing development again? Residents and conservationists initially thought it was an application filed by a developer rushing through before the removal announcement took effect. However, an investigation by News&Market found that this case was approved through a separate process, the "Regulations Governing the Review of Applications for Agricultural Land to Be Used for Agricultural Facilities" (hereafter "Permitted Use Regulations"), as a rooftop-type solar installation on an indoor aquaculture facility, rather than the ground-mounted solar project originally set up under the Unsuitable Cultivation Area.

If the ecological value of this area is so high that even ground-mounted solar is not permitted, how can rooftop solar with an even larger building footprint be built? Chenglong villagers are as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

"One moment it's an Unsuitable Cultivation Area, the next it's Permitted Use; what exactly is the difference between ground-mounted solar and rooftop solar?" said community elder Tian Rizheng, known as "Boss Tian," bluntly. "No matter what legal pathway is used for development, solar power has come into the wetland. We worked hard to persuade the Council of Agriculture and finally got Zone A revoked, but in the end solar power still wants to come in and destroy the wetland ecology that took years to form. How could we accept that?"

Wang Zhaomei, a volunteer who has long monitored the wetland and migratory birds, pointed out that although this water area is not within the legal boundaries of Chenglong Wetland, it is an important block constituting the overall ecological conservation area, and its importance is no less than the area that only last year obtained legal status as a locally important wetland.

Schematic map of the relative positions of solar power sites and disputed locations around Chenglong Wetland (Produced by Lin Jiyang)

Developer: Rooftop fishery-solar co-existence restores aquaculture; previously unaware of ecological controversy

The developer at the disputed location is Haishen Solar Energy Company, which plans to build a four-hectare indoor aquaculture facility south of Keliao Road, using recirculating aquaculture, with rooftop solar panels installed on the roof, expected to generate a total of 4000KW.

General Manager Huang Guanxun stated that the site was originally abandoned fish ponds, and the project merely restores the land's aquaculture use; the development is not purely for solar power profit. In fact, the company is a professional aquaculture team, and its cooperation with solar operators on rooftop solar is purely to reduce the construction cost of the aquaculture facility.

Huang Guanxun explained that the industry-known cost of solar development is 40,000 per KW for ground-mounted, while rooftop-type on indoor aquaculture costs as much as 60,000 per KW. If it were only for solar revenue, it would be impossible to develop rooftop solar on indoor aquaculture. He emphasized that the company's position also opposes ground-mounted solar, and does not agree with the practice of setting aside 40% of fishery-solar co-existence for embankments.

Huang Guanxun pointed out that indoor aquaculture can overcome extreme climate and disease prevention issues, ensuring stable production capacity, using less land area, and the company has already avoided sensitive coastal land. Installing rooftop solar on indoor aquaculture should, in the long run, be considered an environmentally friendly approach.

Huang Guanxun stated that Haishen Solar Energy is a company established only in February of this year, and it was not until March or April that it found the fish ponds currently under development. It is by no means the same operator that originally wanted to develop ground-mounted solar starting anew. He said that before development, he was unaware of the ecological controversy at the site. Although migratory birds may be neighbors that aquaculture fisheries dislike, now that conservation groups have concerns, he is willing to listen and communicate, seeking opportunities for coexistence and mutual prosperity with the wetland ecology.

The water area on the north side of Chenglong Wetland under development has now been filled and raised, and piles are being driven. (Photo by Lin Jiyang)

In fact, the solar power threat around Chenglong Wetland is not limited to a single company. On the north side of Chenglong Elementary School, lobbying and development for solar power in Zone B of the "Unsuitable Cultivation Area" are still ongoing. Developers have also revealed that near Zone A, other solar companies are also actively operating, and the future of Chenglong Wetland remains uncertain.

Boss Tian: "I'm afraid of letting down my fellow villagers, being thought of as a liar"

Due to the encroachment of solar power and the growing number of threats around Chenglong Wetland, with the joint efforts of the government and local community, last year (2019) Chenglong Wetland was finally upgraded from a "provisional wetland" designated by administrative order to a "locally important wetland" with legal protection status.

Tian Rizheng admitted, "Not every landowner around Chenglong Wetland supports the wetland one hundred percent." Therefore, the initial designation scope was deliberately kept small, starting with 56.5 hectares centered on Chenglong Village, accounting for only one-fifth of the surrounding water area and reed beds.

Unexpectedly, even after shrinking the area to a range the community was more confident about, the government's survey of residents' opinions still showed that only 3% of landowners were willing to hand over their land. Seeing that things were not looking good, Tian Rizheng actively lobbied hard in the village, urging repeatedly, and finally obtained the consent of 53%, a majority of landowners, to designate the 56.5-hectare legal wetland scope.

With his silver tongue, Tian Rizheng painted a vision of wetland development for the villagers: "This wetland can make our children and grandchildren's lives better. If the wetland is maintained well, the younger generation won't have to leave to find work in the future."

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