The Executive Yuan yesterday launched a “green” energy technology park project in Tainan as part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) plan to develop “five innovative industries” by fostering the renewable energy sector and developing southern Taiwan.
The park, which is to be built in the Shalun area (沙崙) in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), would raise the nation’s research and development capability in renewable energy technology, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said during a ceremony to launch the project.
The park is to be a test site for new technologies and create a zero-waste economy, featuring electric buses that can be wirelessly charged, cars fitted with solar panels and eco-friendly buildings, Lin said.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
“The development of Shalun, compared with other regions, will take the environment into account and prove that urban development can coexist with nature,” he said.
“Other significant goals of the project involve the government’s efforts to rebalance regional development and bridge the gap between urban and rural areas,” he said.
The government plans to make Tainan a permanent base of technology industries and Shalun a center to collect funds for renewable energy technology.
Minister of Science and Technology Yang Hung-duen (楊弘敦) said the nation’s energy policy will ensure that renewable energy accounts for 20 percent of the total power supply by 2025, adding that the park will be a major contributor toward that goal.
The central area of the park is to cover 22.3 hectares near the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Tainan Station and house a joint research center and a testing facility that would direct research in a “smart” power grid, solar and wind power generation, as well as energy storage technologies and energy-saving buildings and technologies.
The project is to spearhead the government’s initiative to develop offshore wind farms and install solar panels on public buildings, contaminated farmland and areas prone to ground subsidence, and is expected to attract NT$610 billion (US$19.38 billion) in investment by 2025.
Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) rejected a claim that the project is a scheme to seize farmland and encourage property speculation.
Independent reporter Chu Shu-chuan (朱淑娟) said the project is an attempt to develop farmland owned by Taiwan Sugar Corp’s (台糖) Shalun Farm and compared it to the Dapu (大埔) Incident in 2013, when the Miaoli County Government seized farmland and demolished property in the county’s Jhunan Township (竹南) to expand the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區).
“There is no such thing as claimed by the reporter, who said the project aims to seize the property of the Shalun Farm and compared it to the Dapu Incident,” Lai said.
The planned development sites are in a special development zone and do not include farm properties, while a proposed 200 hectare film studio to be built on the farm would leave an area of 700 hectares as a bird sanctuary, Lai said, dismissing concerns over the environmental and ecological implications of the project.
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