Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) Dalin Plant in Kaohsiung City received the go-ahead yesterday to replace its five generators with two 800,000 megawatt ones, ending a two-year standoff between the company and the Kaohsiung City Government, environmentalists and local residents opposed to the project.
The company originally proposed replacing the 40-year-old generators with four new ones. Taipower spokeswoman and lead engineer Tu Yueh-yuan (杜悅元) said the new ones would be cleaner because they would be fitted with high-efficiency pollution prevention equipment.
The four new generators were essential for providing electricity to southern Taiwan, Tu said.
To make up for the additional 11 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year and 341 tonnes of particulates the generators would produce — 1.5 times the current amount — Tu said Taipower was prepared to trade carbon credits or plant trees overseas so that its carbon emission levels would remain the same, while the particulates would be cut in half.
Because the Environmental Protection Administration’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) panel’s case committee had previously proposed Taipower cut the number of replacements to two, the focus of debate at yesterday’s EIA meeting was whether two or four generators would be installed.
Opponents said that with the additional carbon and emissions, “The lungs of Kaohsiung citizens would be Taiwan’s air purifier.”
“Our position is that the pollutants must be cut in half and our carbon emissions must be reduced,” Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Li Yung-de (李永德) said. “With the increased generators, it is as if we are choosing between being raped two times or four.”
“Can Taiwanese accept suffering from the extra carbon emissions while we trade carbon with foreign countries and plant trees in China or Brazil?” he said.
Resident association representative Wang Min-ling (王敏玲) said environmental pollutants lead to heart and lung diseases and the life expectancy of Kaohsiung residents was four years less than Taipei residents.
“Everyone knows Kaohsiung’s particulate concentration is much higher than the north … I have waited four hours outside this meeting room just so I can come in and tell you this: You are bullying us, and by planning to expand the Dalin Power Plant you are increasing the north-south imbalance,” Wang said.
Taiwan needs sustainable industries, not more coal-burning power plants, Wang said.
After four hours of heated delbate, Li told the meeting: “I don’t want to tell you what Kaohsiung is prepared to do if the four-generator proposal is passed. If that were to happen, I am prepared to sacrifice my personal and political life to make sure that not a single generator is built.”
The EIA panelists voted to conditionally pass the two-generator proposal and Tu said Taipower would not appeal.
“This meeting was our appeal and it failed,” she said, adding later: “We will go back to the office and discuss if we will accept the decision.”
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS