CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday reiterated its pledge to meet the public’s expectations after its proposal to build a third liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Taoyuan narrowly passed an environmental impact assessment earlier in the day.
The state-run refiner said that it has cut the scale of the project from 232 hectares to 37 hectares to minimize its effects on the coastal algal and coral reefs near the site of the terminal in Taoyuan’s Kuantan Industrial Park (觀塘工業區).
The terminal’s industrial port would be off the coast, which would leave ocean currents undisturbed, CPC added.
A committee comprised of experts, members of conservation groups and environmental advocates would be formed, and given a budget to monitor the projects ecological effects, CPC chairman Tai Chein (戴謙) said, adding that he is willing to serve as a lifelong volunteer on the committee.
The project is strongly opposed by environmentalists who have called for the conservation of an endemic species of Crustose coralline algae on coastal reefs at the planned construction site.
However, CPC said the terminal is a crucial aspect of the nation’s transition toward renewable energy and a green economy.
The planned facility is expected to begin supplying fuel to Tatan Power Plant (大潭電廠) in January 2023 to meet the government’s goal of making cleaner gas power a bigger part of the nation’s energy source and cut reliance on more polluting coal-fired power plants.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said that the facility would help ease the nation’s strained LNG infrastructure, which is operating at about 103 percent capacity.
Once online, the facility would bring down LNG capacity utilization to 87 percent and cut the transport distance of fuel to meet the energy demand from northern industrial hubs, Tseng said.
Despite receiving the green light from the environmental impact assessment committee, CPC must continue its mission to advance Taiwan’s energy transition, which has been progressing amid tremendous mistrust and scrutiny, he added.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
Artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia Corp’s most advanced chips would be reserved for US companies and kept out of China and other countries, US President Donald Trump said. During an interview that aired on Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes program and in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said only US customers should have access to the top-end Blackwell chips offered by Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization. “The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,” he told CBS, echoing remarks made earlier to reporters as he returned to Washington
RSS