The Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) ad hoc committee yesterday approved seven offshore wind farm projects proposed by Denmark-based Orsted Energy and Nantou-based Swancor Renewable Energy Co.
The projects — four by Orsted and three by Swancor — are to be located off the coast Changhua County, which has become a competitive battlefield for wind farm developers.
However, the ad hoc committee’s conclusions must still be confirmed by the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment committee.
Yesterday’s approved projects bring to 14 the number of projects centered off Chuanghua that the ad hoc committee has greenlit.
Yesterday’s meetings were the third committee reviews for Orsted and Swancor’s projects.
To win approval, the two firms had reduced their development areas to avoid overlapping with shipping lanes or damage the habitat of Taiwanese humpback dolphins.
Orsted plans to install between 218 and 301 wind turbines at No. 12, 13, 14 and 15 planned sites, with their maximum capacity reaching about 2.4 gigawatts (GW).
At sites No. 11, 16 and 17, Swancor plans to install a maximum of 228 turbines, with a capacity totaling just over 2GW.
Some committee members raised concerns about potential historic remains in the waters near the proposed sites and the migration routes of migratory birds.
Committee member Liu Yi-chang (劉益昌) urged the two firms to promise to adjust the location of their turbines if they find historic remains offshore, and they agreed.
Orsted had proposed demarcating four routes used by migratory birds within the range of its wind farms, but committee member Lee Chien-ming (李堅明) asked it to establish more concrete plans.
Developers should also evaluate how to strive for “carbon rights” in the international community, considering wind energy can reduce the nation’s carbon emissions compared with coal-fired or gas-fired power, he added.
The ad hoc committee imposed several requirements on the developers, including asking them to propose plans to reduce air pollutants such as sulfur oxides and fine particulate matter emitted from machine engines powered by diesel fuels.
Orsted earlier this month signed memorandums of understanding with China Steel Corp and Century Wind Power — a subsidiary of Century Iron & Steel Industrial Co, said Matthias Bausenwein, the company’s general manager for the Asia-Pacific region.
The four offshore wind farms are Orsted’s biggest investment plan outside Denmark, he told reporters after the meeting at the EPA, adding that its investment is expected to reach NT$300 billion (US$9.99 billion).
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS