Plans by three companies to build solid recovered-fuel (SRF) power plants in Taoyuan are back on track, despite objections from locals, after the Ministry of Economic Affairs overruled a municipal government order to cancel the projects.
In a directive issued on Thursday last week, the ministry overturned Taoyuan’s decision in March to revoke permits for the plants because of problems discovered with the companies’ applications, paving the way for Cleanaway Co, Taiwan Cube Energy Co and Li Jiang Development Co to proceed with their plans to build SRF plants in Taoyuan Technology Industrial Park (桃園科技園區) in Guanyin District (觀音).
The ministry issued the order after an appeal by Cleanaway against the city’s decision.
Photo courtesy of a reader via CNA
Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang (張善政) on Sunday said that the ministry’s decision was regrettable and added that Taoyuan would carefully monitor the steps the companies have to follow to build the plants to protect residents’ health.
The controversy dates to late 2020, when the ministry held meetings to discuss construction of “renewable energy” plants in the park and the requirements companies would have to meet.
Among them was a requirement to set up an SRF plant and receive recommendation letters from the ministry.
The three companies received recommendations between late 2020 and the middle of 2022, and Taoyuan approved their applications within months, with the final one just days before Chang took office in late December 2022.
However, in November last year, about two months before the presidential and legislative elections in January, the ministry rescinded the recommendation letters.
In March, Chang canceled the approvals it had granted on the grounds that without the ministry’s recommendation, the applications to construct the three SRF plants were incomplete.
However, the ministry revoked the city’s decision, saying that the recommendation requirement was merely an advisory and not legally binding.
The city did not provide a legal basis for invalidating its previous permits, the ministry said.
Local leaders and residents were quoted by Chinese-language media as saying that the central government had handled the matter poorly.
Guanyin residents were considering a protest in Taipei against the ministry’s decision, the reports said.
Taoyuan City Councilor Wu Chin-chang (吳進昌) said that the ministry and the previous Taoyuan mayor, Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), rescinded the recommendation letters ahead of the Jan. 13 elections for fear of losing votes over the issue.
Guanyin already has the gas-fired Datan Power Plant, which Wu said has caused serious pollution.
Three more SRF plants would only worsen the situation, he said.
KMT Legislator Tu Chuan-chi (涂權吉) said that the ministry had flip-flopped on policy due to political motivations, which exposes its lack of credibility.
SRF is produced by shredding and drying commercial waste such as paper, plastics, textiles and wood.
It generates energy from fuel that might otherwise be incinerated or dumped in landfills.
Advocates say SRFs generate fewer emissions than coal when used to produce electricity, while its high-calorific value allows it to be used in cement kilns to generate power in place of coal.
However, it creates pollutants and might disincentivize recycling.
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