BIPV stadium listed as the world’s most important sports venue

By Emma Hughes  www.pv-tech.org

SportsPro magazine has listed the World Games Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan as the world’s most important sports venue. With a capacity of 55,000, the stadium features 8,844 solar panels, making it the largest solar panelled sports venue in the world.

The stadium, which was designed by Toyo Ito and completed in 2009, generates enough energy to supply 75% of its power needs during an event, and when not in use powers 80% of the surrounding area.

David Cushnan, editor of SportsPro said, “The World Games Stadium might not be the largest or most-used sports venue in the world, but there can be no doubt that, thanks to the environmentally friendly way it has been designed, it is amongst the most significant and could well be a model for the next generation of stadia.

That guaranteed it the number one spot, even against some of the most historic sports venues in the world – the likes of Fenway Park, Augusta, Lord’s and the Melbourne Cricket Ground – and some of the spectacular new facilities like Meydan, the Yas Marina circuit and Soccer City.”