Every effort to protect algal reefs would be taken during the construction of CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Taoyuan, while selecting a new site would likely delay gas distribution to Taipei by 11 years, resulting in power shortages, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said yesterday.
The state-run utility is building a LNG terminal off Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), a project that was approved by the Environmental Protection Administration in 2018.
Rescue Datan’s Algal Reefs Alliance convener Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政) last year initiated a referendum proposal to protect the reefs.
Photo: Lo chi, Taipei Times
The proposed referendum would ask: “Do you agree that CPC’s LNG terminal should be relocated from its planned site on the algal reef coast of Datan and its adjacent waters?”
The proposal has entered the second stage and campaigners need to collect 350,000 signatures by Sunday, as they need to review them before sending them to the Central Election Commission by the middle of next month, Pan said.
As of Wednesday, they had collected only 123,700 signatures, he said.
Photo: CNA
Speaking to reporters after an Executive Yuan meeting yesterday, Lo said that the stance of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration on the terminal was to protect the reefs as much as possible.
The administration has cut 90 percent of the station’s original size and has done its best to avoid the reef area, Lo said.
There were discussions at the meeting over alternative locations, such as the Port of Taipei, but the 40km move would have an environmental impact, as the government would have to conduct another environmental assessment, while the public would be affected, he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs estimated that were the move made, it would delay a gas pipeline supplying Taipei by 11 years, causing a shortage of power in the nation’s north, and placing added pressure on power plants in central and southern areas.
Without natural gas, the nation would have to rely on burning coal, while forcing the north to rely on power plants in central and southern regions would subject the national power grid to unnecessary risks, Lo said.
This is why the government decided on the Taoyuan site, Lo said, adding that information about the project would remain transparent and dialogue with the public would continue.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) said that the issue affects the economy, the well-being of the public and the issue of transitioning to alternative sources of energy.
There should be rational debate and no political polarization, Lin said.
He defended the DPP’s establishment of a Special Projects Office to facilitate communication between the party, the central government, local DPP chapters and local governments.
The next elections are not until next year and critics should not link everything a party does to preparation for them, he said.
Additional reporting by Ho Chin-hua
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