The government plans to spend NT$2.5 billion (US$81.82 million) improving infrastructure at Taichung Port to transform it into a base for the development of offshore wind energy, the Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC) said.
The project would be funded mainly by a special budget for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Project, a series of projects that the government plans to finish within eight years, TIPC said.
TIPC Taichung branch office chief secretary Cheng Shu-hui (鄭淑惠) said that the funding would be used to renovate the port’s 5A and 5B docks and build a new dock, No. 106, with those areas to be used to assemble offshore wind power generator components.
The work is to be completed by 2019, Cheng said.
TIPC is to provide 100 hectares of Taichung Port land and spend NT$350 million building roads and other infrastructure to attract investments from domestic suppliers that produce parts for wind power generators, she said.
Cheng said that the government has been pursuing the development of “green” energy infrastructure and electricity generated by offshore wind turbines is a key source.
The Executive Yuan approved a plan to build 1,000 wind turbines on land and offshore, Cheng said.
The plan stipulates that offshore wind turbines would have storage capacity of 3 gigawatts by 2025, she said, adding that sources of renewable energy would account for 20 percent of the nation’s electricity supply in the same year.
Based on evaluations conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Cheng said the most ideal area for wind energy development is the coastal area south of Hsinchu County and north of Changhua County.
Most of the sites chosen by the ministry to install wind turbines are off the coast of Changhwa, she said.
“Offshore wind turbines are large machines that require a lot of space to assemble,” Cheng said. “Taking into account the risks of installing the turbines at sea and accessibility to the generators, one has to choose the port that is closest to the wind farm.”
Apart from being an international port and the closest seaport to the wind farm, Cheng said that Taichung Port was chosen as a base because it is a deep-water port that can accommodate large ships that are needed to transport parts for turbines.
The port has well-established infrastructure and lots of space for logistics support, she added.
Domestic and international wind power suppliers have expressed interest in establishing logistics zones at the port, TIPC said.
TIPC vice president of business Tsai Ting-yi (蔡丁義) said the company is confident that the port would become a base for the wind energy industry.
The company could raise funds to continue the project if a special budget for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Construction Project is not approved by legislators, Tsai said.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
RSS