The Control Yuan yesterday approved its probe report on a near-shore solar power project in Changhua County, with a decision to censure the Ministry of Economic Affairs for negligence and misconduct leading to an estimated NT$7 billion (US$213.10 million) loss to the government’s renewable energy incentive program.
Complaints by politicians about ministry officials favoring certain contractors and accusations of undue profiteering had led to the Control Yuan conducting a probe, relating to the ministry’s handling of a public tender for solar power generation at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park (彰化濱海工業區).
The report said the ministry began the public tender process in 2016, under the national plan to boost renewable energy capacity, aiming to establish solar power farms to generate electricity, providing financial incentives and sites for firms to set up at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park, which covers areas of the county’s three townships.
Photo: Lin Yuan-che, Taipei Times
The probe by Control Yuan members showed flaws in the ministry’s incentive schemes, specifically regarding how it calculated the feed-in tariff rate and the credit for excess electricity that solar panels or related power generators feed back into the grid, which was allegedly designed to favor Hsinchu City-based United Renewable Energy Co (URE, 聯合再生).
The ministry had neglected to set a lower limit for the feed-in tariff rate, and then adjusted the criteria during the public tender review and evaluation process, resulting in URE winning the tender for Site No. 4, despite the firm stipulating that it would only return to the government the low tariff rate of up to 3 percent, the probe found.
Local politicians and lawmakers raised questions on why URE won the tender, despite reports of another energy firm having offered much higher returns back to the government, at 20 percent for the first 10 years and 30 percent for the next 10 years.
Control Yuan members estimated the overall loss to be NT$7 billion for the duration of two decades when comparing the promised rates of the two companies.
In addition, the report said the ministry failed to act to terminate the agreement when less than one year after winning the tender bid, URE executives sold the ownership to another firm, while the ministry only demanded that URE buy back the ownership rights.
Company executives used a complicated business scheme to sell company stocks while showing on paper that the company still owned shares so they could partake in board meetings and make decisions, the probe said, adding that the company had contravened the requirements of the public tender.
In a separate probe on the Taipei Dome project, the Control Yuan censured the Taipei City Government and the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), in a report released earlier this month.
The report said that in the Taipei Dome build-operate-transfer (BOT) project agreement signed in 2006 with Farglory Group (遠雄集團), the Taipei City Government and the MOI had supervisory and oversight responsibilities, but government officials failed in their duties to ensure that in addition to sporting events, the Dome would be able to hold entertainment events.
When signing the BOT agreement, the city government awarded the operating rights to Farglory Group up until 2062, but during construction, the project met with numerous disputes and legal problems.
The project was completed last year.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS