Google Go Solar in Taiwan

Google is funding a 10MW solar farm in Taiwan, whose 40,000 panels are planned to be hanging over commercial fish ponds. The aim of this project is to compensate with renewable energy a percentage of  the energy consumed by the company’s data center situated  one hundred km north. As stated by Google, this solar farm, planned to be built Tainan town, it’s planning to be the primary renewable project in Asia. 

This was a tough deal to close for Taiwan, as their government had to be influenced by Google for years to undertake and modify their energy rules and permit them to buy renewable energy. The persuasion was a hit as claimed by Google, the government amended its rules in 2017 to permit corporations that aren’t utilities to shop for renewable energy directly from producers, which meant they cleared their means for the solar project.

The company had been exploring the probabilities of renewable energy in Taiwan since “day one” of its operations the corporation made an announcement that they were about to build its data center there in 2011 and with success brought it on-line in 2013. 

By Google standards, 10MW isn’t a big amount, as it only represent well beneath the entire power consumption of a typical hyperscale data center. Google has not disclosed the precise quantity of power its data centers demand, as well as to mention what share of the Changhua County facility’s consumption the longer term server farm would match.

Kava Stated; “This is – in the grand scheme of things – a smaller project in Taiwan,” he said. “It does not meet a hundred percent of the [Google data center’s] demand… But it’s the first step in the right direction”

Not a lot of the island’s 14,000 sq. miles is appropriate to build on and taking over vast parcels of land with solar installations may be a struggle to sell. That’s why the developer operating with Google decided to build the solar panels on top of fish ponds. Owners of the ponds made an agreement to transform their property into an energy sector, as they are going to be compensated as a part of the company’s power purchases agreement.

As far as the impact on the fish goes, the environmental studies were done to make sure there were no adverse effects. The consultants who did the studies concluded that “the panels and the fish can co-exist in perfect harmony.”

 

A company referred to as New Green Power is about to operate the solar project, that is predicted to come on-line in 2020, a Google exponent commented via email.