Three projects from Taiwan were recently announced as winners of the 2017 Energy Smart Communities Initiative Best Practices Awards Program overseen by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Great Tainan—The Solar City and Smart Park Information and Communication Technology Re-engineering Initiative claimed gold in the Low Carbon Models Town and Smart Transport categories, respectively, with Penghu Dongjiyu Microgrid Small Power Supply System taking silver in the Smart Grids category.
The projects were among 197 submissions from APEC’s 21 member economies vying for top honors in the awards, which also comprise the categories of Smart Buildings and Smart Jobs and Consumers. They underwent rigorous examination on the road to making the final 25 and eventual 10-strong winners’ list.
Great Tainan—The Solar City was launched in 2011 by Tainan City Government’s Economic Development Bureau. It aims to build the southern Taiwan metropolis into a low-carbon city while spurring development of the local green technology industry. This is being achieved through a variety of measures such as raising public awareness of the initiative, operating dedicated service windows at some district offices and providing subsidies.
A core component of the initiative involves capitalizing on Tainan’s abundance of sunshine through promoting the installation of photovoltaic systems on the roofs of public and private buildings, as well as factories and agricultural facilities. Over the past six years, 3,685 rooftop PV systems have been installed citywide producing 252 megawatts. By 2018, it is anticipated that combined production total of all rooftop PV systems will be 440 MW.
In addition, Tainan has reduced its greenhouse gases by 167,000 tons—an amount equivalent to 515 times the annual carbon reduction capacity of the 14-hectare Tainan City Park.
Equally impressive is the Smart Park ICT Re-engineering Initiative. Overseen by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the initiative seeks to transform the Central Taiwan, Hsinchu and Southern Taiwan science parks into digital eco-communities of innovation and sustainability.
According to the MOST, the heart of the initiative lies in reducing carbon emissions produced by private vehicles in the parks, which host more than 800 businesses employing 270,000 employees. Through a combination of smart traffic control, parking and digital signage, as well as e-shuttle buses and a transportation app, the parks have slashed carbon emissions by 960 tons and saved 119,100 liters of fuel.
Similarly praiseworthy is Penghu Dongjiyu Microgrid Small Power Supply System. Centered on Dongji islet in outlying Penghu County, the system’s objectives include increasing renewable energy use, reducing diesel power generation, enhancing the stability of electricity supply and providing low-carbon power supply. It includes the use of electricity generation forecasting, remote monitoring for load predictions and a control system for three-phase equilibrium of AC power.
The awards program is a key component of the 2011-launched ESCI Knowledge Sharing Platform, a tool for collecting and sharing best practices for creating energy smart communities. Winners will be honored at a presentation ceremony during the 53rd meeting of the APEC Energy Working Group April 24 in Singapore.(CPY-E)
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