Lightsource BP is working with Green Rock Energy on the co-development of a 150MW project co-locating solar with aquaculture in Taiwan.
The Budai project will be one of the largest fishery solar farms in Taiwan, creating 750 employment opportunities during construction, which is expected to commence in June 2023.
Once constructed, the project will produce 210,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to power roughly 43,000 homes and save 133,770 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Alongside providing locally generated renewable energy and creating new jobs, Lightsource BP’s fishery solar project has been designed to benefit the local environment and community.
The company engaged environmental specialists as well as local fishermen to provide expertise and design for the project to deliver multiple benefits.
These include enabling fishermen to farm on around 200 ponds as well as adding saltwater storage ponds to optimise the water management process for the fish farmers.
The move to enter the Taiwanese market comes after Lightsource bp secured a $1.8bn credit and trade finance facility last year to fuel its global growth strategy of developing 25GW of solar by 2025.
The funding is provided by 10 top tier global financial institutions, to aid its growth ambitions and execution strategy as it continues to accelerate the deployment of solar across the EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific regions.
Lightsource BP chief executive Nick Boyle said: “There are a lot of interesting opportunities for solar in Asia and our long-term ambition is to have an EMEA, Americas and an Asia Pacific region so we’re excited that through our first East Asian project in Taiwan, we are beginning to build that third leg of the stool.
“Taiwan relies on imports for about 95% of its energy which leaves its energy supply vulnerable to external disruption.
“This energy challenge, coupled with the need for sustainably generated electricity makes Taiwan a unique project and we’re thrilled to draw on our global experience and work with Green Rock Energy to step up to the challenge.”