In order to achieve the goals of energy transformation, the Taiwan government has set specific targets for various types of renewable energy. The solar power capacity shall reach 20 gigawatts in 2025, of which 4.4 gigawatts comes from the symbiosis of ground-based fishery and electricity. To achieve this goal, it means that more than one-fourth of the fish farms in Taiwan will be covered by photovoltaic panels. This may cause some local environmental or social impacts. Therefore, the government had conducted environmental and social inspections on areas with high concentration of fish farms, expecting to take stock of issues, and remind developers to pay attention and strengthen communication to reduce the impact of solar photovoltaics on local areas.
This study focuses on the symbiosis of fish and electricity in six cities along the southwest coast of Taiwan, and inspected the local environmental ecology and socio-economic issues. The methods of environmental inspection include site surveys, ecological information mapping, interviews with ecological experts, and public consultation meetings. The socio-economic inspection mainly includes literature collection and analysis, local stakeholder interviews, expert discussions and public consultation to discover possible local problems.
The contribution of this research is to take stock of the environmental or social issues faced before development, and to classify the location so as to guide developers to choose locations with less environmental or social sensitivity. And give more opportunities for fisheries and energy transition in the process of aquaculture’s adaptation to climate change.
Keywords: fish-electricity symbiosis; environment; society; inspection