Tuesday’s massive power outage, caused by a disruption to the gas supply at a plant in Taoyuan, demonstrates not only the vulnerability of the nation’s power supply, but also the failure of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to focus on “green” energy development — one of its key campaign platforms.
Some have asked why the government has not kept nuclear plants running while a solution is sought, but Tsai has vowed to phase out nuclear power completely by 2025. A recent approval to restart two nuclear generators has already drawn strong criticism.
Tsai cannot control public opinion, but her government can control budgets and the approval of environmental impact assessments (EIA) for green or low-impact energy sources.
On July 10, the Cabinet proposed a budget for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program that earmarked NT$17.06 billion (US$562.4 million) for railways — a number they said will increase as the program continues — while budgeting NT$8.12 billion for green energy projects and the construction of a science park in Tainan.
An opinion poll published last month showed that 48.31 percent of respondents are opposed to the railways budget, while 58.52 percent said light-rail projects are wasteful.
As can be expected, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has come under fire from opposition parties for the infrastructure project, but the failure of the DPP to listen to its supporters on budget allocation issues is fueling the opposition’s argument — exacerbated by Tuesday’s outage and supply issues last month after Typhoon Nesat and Tropical Storm Haitang brought down a transmission tower in Yilan.
The government needs to act fast if it wants to demonstrate readiness before the next heat wave or weather anomaly, and if it wants to meet its national energy goals of 20 percent renewable and 50 percent natural gas sources.
Companies that have offered solutions have faced EIA obstacles and activists’ protests. Nine separate plans for offshore wind farms were rejected in June after their EIAs were not approved.
EPA Deputy Minister Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴) said in an interview this month that “Development is not always wrong. Sometimes it is the location that is the problem.”
He said the majority of the 22 EIAs received this year have been rejected because they had to follow up on insufficient ecological studies.
Meanwhile, plans from CPC Corp to expand liquefied natural gas production in Taoyuan’s Datan Borough (大潭) were condemned by Taoyuan Local Union director-general Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政) and protesters who said the company’s EIAs are out of date because they were issued in 1999.
“Public perception of environmental issues have changed since then,” Pan said.
The public has certainly become more aware of environmental issues through the work of activists like late film director Chi Po-lin (齊柏林). It is therefore becoming increasingly important for the government to act on environmental concerns if it wants to retain public support.
However, the government must decide which projects to stall and which to approve to best balance environmental concerns and the nation’s needs.
Dealing with the pollution from processing firm Yu Hung Technology that spilled onto 122 hectares of farmland downstream of the now-defunct Shenmai Pond is important. Approving amendments to the Mining Act (礦業法) and not allowing mines to continue operations while EIAs are ongoing are important.
Delaying alternative energy projects for follow-up EIAs when the nation has an urgent need is irresponsible.
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