CTCI Assists Taoyuan Metro in Achieving Green Transportation Ideal– An Overview of the Development and Operation of Luzhu Photovoltaic Plant at a Taoyuan Metro Depot

— Chao, Ching-Her, President of ECOVE SEC, Group Resource Cycling Business

In response to the Taoyuan City Government's goal of building a low-carbon green city, Taoyuan Metro Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Taoyuan Metro) decided to lease the rooftop of its Luzhu Maintenance Depot for a company to install a photovoltaic (PV) system instead of building one from scratch. After going through rigorous selection procedures, ECOVE Solar Energy Corporation (ECOVE SEC) successfully secured the development rights for this first large-scale public project in Taoyuan area. Commercial operation began as scheduled by the end of June 2019. This project gave ECOVE SEC an opportunity to ardently support the municipal government’s low-carbon city effort, kick-start local green energy supply chain, and help create a low-carbon, green city model in Taiwan. In addition, ECOVE SEC is able to both help Taoyuan Metro live up to its green transportation ideals and generate considerable amount of rebates from selling electricity, achieving a triple-win situation for the city government, Taoyuan Metro, and ECOVE SEC.

The PV panels installed on the rooftop not only provide green energy, but also significantly reduce depot’s indoor temperature, achieving excellent energy-saving and carbon-reducing performances. For this reason, ECOVE SEC’s work earned high praise from the municipal government and Taoyuan Metro, and was featured as cover story in a local publication called Taoyuan Story in January 2020. As news about ECOVE SEC spread abroad, a Thai television channel called TVB Thailand approached ECOVE SEC to make a special program about solar power in Taiwan, and the program was aired on TV and online in April 2020. Once again, ECOVE SEC’s exceptional performance is recognized worldwide.

This project's successful collaboration model also led to Taoyuan Metro's decision to increase overall PV installation capacity at the end of 2019 by picking Cingpu Depot as the spot for more panel installations, as this depot has a larger surface area. Once again, ECOVE SEC, with its excellent project execution experiences and Group resources, stood out from fierce competitions and won the development rights. Once completed, Cingpu Depot project will become the largest public project in Taoyuan area with an electrical license.

ECOVE SEC has a long history working with major public transport companies, including Taiwan High Speed Rail, Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, and Taipei Mass Rapid Transit. Moreover, it has dozens of experiences in developing, planning, investing, constructing, and operating rooftop, ground, and floating PV projects. Thanks to ECOVE SEC’s safe, reliable, and stable investment strategies, as well as long-term project ownership, it has become a reputable services provider highly trusted by clients, evident from the fact that it has been granted PV system development rights for Luzhu and Cingpu Depots. ECOVE SEC has now become Taoyuan Metro’s reliable partner.

Reliable Realized

Creating Environmental Sustainability through Effective Energy Savings and Lower Carbon Emissions

During the planning stage early on, ECOVE SEC carried out rigorous internal and external reviews to examine issues such as roof limit load, structural reinforcement, dust pollution, and the building's shadow effect. In particular, it took safety issues related to overhead work very seriously, and set the goal of zero incident. ECOVE SEC’s adherence to CTCI Group’s corporate culture—that of being “the most reliable engineering services provider”—saw it finish the installation with superb engineering quality. The Luzhu Depot solar panels were interconnected successfully by the end of June 2019, and can generate an estimated 2.04 million kWh of electricity per year, or an equivalent of annual power supply for 561 households. In the meantime, it can reduce about 1,079 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, equivalent to 2.8 times of the annual absorption of Taipei's Daan Forest Park. On the other hand, Cingupu Depot project, with an installation capacity of 3.6MW, is expected to interconnect the solar panels by July 2020. Together, the two projects are expected to generate more than 100 million kWh of power over the next 20 years and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 53,000 metric tons, making a substantial contribution to global warming alleviation.

Project Highlight

A Green Energy Avenue for the Metro, a Path to a Wonderful Journey

Set against the backdrop of rural scenery, wavy photovoltaic panels at Taoyuan Metro’s Luzhu Depot rooftop present a new look for green energy.

A highlight of this project is the harmonious beauty on the depot’s rooftop, where the PV system merges seamlessly with the beautiful lines of the curved roof. Anyone who passes by Taoyuan Metro’s Kengkou (A11) Station will notice a “green energy avenue” out the window, the beautiful, idyllic landscape, and solar panels laid out uniformly on the aqua blue roof. In the distance, planes are busy taking off and landing at the Taoyuan Airport. All of these blend into the surroundings to form a beautiful scenery. This is the best symbol that Taoyuan City Government and Taoyuan Metro have been joining hands to build a low-carbon green city dedicated to green energy creation and better life for its citizens.

Smarter Engineering

Innovative Curved Roof Design Maximizes Power Generation

Engineers faced a couple of challenges when designing PV system for this project. One of them is location, since the depot is located in northern Taiwan, where the amount of sunshine are less than that in the south. Another challenge is to lay PV modules on five buildings, yet each building has different roof shape. In particular, roof curvature poses the biggest challenge. The key to success lies in finding a way to optimize power generation efficiency by balancing cost and benefit. During the initial design phase, ECOVE SEC’s technical team decided to abandon traditional design schemes and opt for optimal power generation instead. 

Immense effort has been put into the project, with the team discussing various design solutions and making countless simulations through the PVsys photovoltaic simulation software. In the end, the team came up with an innovative engineering technology that optimizes the angle of the curved roof through series connection of photovoltaic modules. Meanwhile, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), a smart converter, is employed in tandem. Power generated from each building has its voltage raised separately before being integrated to be fed into the grid. Despite a relatively higher investment cost, the grid connection has indeed achieved stable and optimal power generation benefits so far. Once again, it is a testament to CTCI Group's unwavering commitment in providing the "most reliable" engineering service quality.

Despite being a carbon-reducing and environmentally-friendly mode of mass transport, MRT consumes considerable amount of electricity. In line with the central government's green energy policy, Taoyuan Metro leased the roofs of two depots located in Luzhu and Cingpu for ECOVE SEC to set up photovoltaic systems, with the goal of promoting renewable energy development and giving back clean electricity to the public. We are particularly grateful to the ECOVE SEC team for its expertise and efforts. Commercial operation of Luzhu Depot photovoltaic system began as scheduled in June 2019, and has become the first case of Taoyuan Metro's photovoltaic power generation.

--Sheng-shi Peng, Director of the General Affairs Department, Taoyuan Metro Corporation