Socio-technical tensions from community acceptance, energy transition, and energy justice: Lessons from solar photovoltaic projects in Taiwan

In 2017, the Taiwanese government announced its first energy-transition path which targeted the increase of electricity generated from renewable energy sources from 5.42 % in 2017 to 20 % by 2025. Since then, large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) energy projects have undergone rapid development. However, since the projects are oriented to a political goal, driven by the national energy policy, led by developers, and have a competitive and techno-economic nature, they have resulted in socio-technical tensions at the local level, bringing “community acceptance” and “energy justice” of “energy transition” to the public debate. This comparative case study investigates 39 cases of developer-led solar PV projects. The results reveal: 1) green-on-human tensions, including those regarding the loss of local agricultural or aquacultural areas and activities, areas preserved for indigenous groups, areas significant for cultural heritage, and historical sites in remote areas with socio-economic deprivation; 2) green-on-green tensions regarding national energy transition and local-environment conservation in forests and coastal wetland sites; 3) concerns on social changes, including local-landscape changes, the loss of place attachment, negative effects on human health, and the potential risks of community safety; 4) the need for more policy measures to ensure “energy justice” and “ethics of care” for people, nature, and species at the local level balancing the transition of national energy with the acceptance of the local community. Recommendations based on lessons learned from the cases are offered to policymakers to help them make more effective decisions on large-scale solar PV projects.