Sunseap Taiwan

By Natalie Tham
August 18, 2020

In July 2020, Sunseap Taiwan successfully commissioned a new solar rooftop project for a rubber tyre recycling company in Pingtung, Taiwan. While the occasion was a milestone as it marked the first solar PV system built for a rubber tyre recycling company, it was certainly not the first project that Sunseap Taiwan has embarked on. Since 2018, Sunseap Taiwan has been active in the solar energy market, making considerable progress towards Sunseap’s goal of promoting sustainability in the region.

We spoke with Peter and Ming Zhi, both whom currently lead Sunseap Taiwan-related projects, to find out more about their projects and the solar market in Taiwan.

Could you elaborate on how/when Sunseap Taiwan first started, the first project, current project(s), and future projects/plans for the future?

Having conducted numerous site visits in Taiwan and done extensive market research on the Taiwan market, we first started exploring Taiwan as a new market in early 2018. By August 2018, Sunseap Taiwan Solar Holdings Ltd was established.

Our first project was the Pingtung Canal (3.3MW). The canal was part of an irrigation network used for the extensive farmland in Pingtung county, and our solar systems were installed (bridged) over the irrigation canal. Constructing the solar systems over the canal was more challenging compared to conventional rooftop systems. Pingtung Canal was completed in various stages from March 2019, and since then we have embarked on various projects and successfully commissioned 10MW of solar systems ranging from ground mount systems to schools and industrial rooftops (August 2020). As we have managed to commission solar projects every month since March 2020, the Taiwan solar market has proved to be a resilient one amidst the COVID-19 impact on the global economy.

Our eventual goal is to achieve a total solar system size of 100MW in the next 2 years in Taiwan. Taiwan is an exciting market for Sunseap. We believe that the energy market will gradually evolve to be an open market similar to Singapore's, and this is an opportunity that Sunseap has created for ourselves, to leverage on our successful experiences in Singapore and make our mark in Taiwan.

How do Sunseap solutions benefit/work for a market like Taiwan?

Sunseap's business in Taiwan contains two major segments – Solar Generation and Energy Solutions. Solar generation, our core activity, is the conventional asset driven solar electricity generation business. The solar generation is the fundamental asset which we will build on in our future business solutions that will evolve with the liberalisation of the Taiwan electricity market.

Energy solutions involves three aspects which are energy efficiency, green roofs and energy intelligence.

Taiwan is very big market, relative to Singapore. The typical energy efficiency level of buildings are also comparatively lower. This is likely due to TW buildings being of older age. As such, SSOL TW has a large Total Available Market (TAM) in TW market. We are able to deploy multi-disciplinary energy efficiency solutions to help client reduce carbon emissions, lower energy consumption and achieve monetary cost savings, through a financed Energy Performance Contract (EPC) approach. We work with our JV partner, Taiwan Secom Co Ltd, the largest security services provider in Taiwan, to cross-sell our EE services to their large pool of existing clients, ie. our Serviceable Available Market (SAM).

How do Taiwan partners and clients see Sunseap?

Taiwan partner and clients view Sunseap as an established international solar player able to bring its vast experience from various markets into Taiwan. As we are known for our effectiveness and comprehensiveness as an energy management company, Sunseap is not merely a conventional solar asset owner in the eyes of our Taiwanese partners and clients.

We are certainly glad to continue making a difference, not just in Singapore but across the region. We wish Peter and Ming Zhi all the best in future ventures on the Taiwan side!
#SunseapTaiwan #Sustainability

For more information or enquiries on our Sunseap Taiwan solutions and services, do email us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.