The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Tuesday passed an initial environmental impact evaluation of a Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) project to build three gas turbines at Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung.
The decision came after an agency task force met for the fourth time to deliberate the state-run energy company’s plans for the plant.
Originally, Taipower had intended to take the plant’s coal-fired units and gas turbines offline only after the newer, more efficient combined-cycle gas turbines are completed, a plan environmental groups panned as being too conservative.
The task force approved the project following a statement by Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) saying that two of the coal-fired units at the plant would be shut down in autumn and winter.
The plant currently operates nine generating units, of which four are coal-fired and five are older gas turbines, Taipower told the agency.
Three new gas turbines with a combined output of nearly 3.9 megawatts are to be built on an adjacent property owned by Taipower and their completion is projected for 2023, it said.
Taipower presented its schedule for decommissioning the existing units, with the coal-fired generators to be shut down from 2023 to 2026, followed by the existing gas turbines in 2026 and 2027.
However, members of the task force demurred, saying that the schedule was too slow, especially with regard to Hsinta’s coal-fired No. 3 and No. 4 units, which combined produce less than 1 megawatt, but would, under the proposal, stay operational until 2025 and 2026 respectively.
The company prefers having coal in reserve until the supply of natural gas is boosted by upgrades to port terminals in Kaohsiung and Taichung, Taipower officials said, adding that in their view, shelving coal by 2023 would increase uncertainty over the supply of energy.
Tseng told the task force that instead of reducing the energy load on existing coal-fired units in Hsinta, two of the plants would be shut down in autumn and winter, which should result in an immediate reduction in air pollution and carbon emissions.
The task force agreed to allow the project to pass to the consideration of the agency’s environmental impact evaluation committee with the addendum that Taipower must submit a more detailed study of the plant and animal species in the area, and their population and distribution.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
RSS