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).
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS