Taiwan’s largest solar plant has been connected to the grid, 18 months after construction began.

The 5.92 megawatt (MW) plant, located in Kaohsiung, comprises of 16,000 panels and cost US$20.9 million to build.

“Taiwan must move in the direction of utilising renewable energy,” said Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Minister, Shih Yen-Shiang, at the inauguration ceremony. “Besides solar energy, the government is also committed to developing offshore wind power, geothermal energy and tidal energy,” he added.

It is hoped that the plant will help Taiwan Power achieve its aim of installing solar panels capable of generating 10 MW of electricity by the end of 2011.