Environmental activists yesterday urged the Kaohsiung City Government and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to accelerate the adoption of green energy as the Ministry of Environment proceeds with an environmental impact assessment for Phase II of the Nanzih Park development project.
The activists yesterday afternoon held a news conference at the ministry’s headquarters in Taipei ahead of an environmental impact assessment meeting on the project.
TSMC has planned to build five 2-nanometer wafer plants on the site previously used by the Kaohsiung refinery inside the Nanzih Park, with two of the plants being scheduled to start operations by the end of last year and this year.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The project’s annual power consumption is estimated to reach about 112 gigawatt-hours, which is equivalent to that of Kaohsiung’s residential and commercial districts last year, activists said.
“If you look at the data, it is no exaggeration to say that TSMC would exhaust the electricity grid in Kaohsiung,” they said.
TSMC has planned to build new wafer plants across the nation, Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan media marketing director Teng Yu-yu (鄧宇佑) said, adding that 10 percent of the nation’s electricity would be consumed by the chipmaker.
“The issue does not merely concern TSMC. It concerns Taiwan’s energy policy and development of green energy,” Teng said.
TSMC has pledged to raise the use of renewable energy to 60 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040, but said its power would be supplied by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), Teng said.
The chipmaker should take a more proactive role by committing to work with local governments to invest resources in developing regional renewable energy, he said.
This includes helping assess local green energy potential, investing in more environmentally and socially responsible renewable energy project models, and funding community-based power plants, he added.
Demand for renewable energy is high in Kaohsiung, Homemakers United Foundation southern office director Chen Wan-e (陳婉娥) said.
In addition to TSMC plants in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District (楠梓), there are other development plans in the city for industries such as semiconductor packaging and uncrewed aerial vehicles, Chen said.
Taipower statistics show that Kaohsiung’s renewable energy capacity had reached only about 1.55 megawatts as of February, she said.
The city government needs to develop new renewable energy policies and take greater responsibility for local electricity planning, she said, adding that all 22 administrative regions in Taiwan should take responsibility for their own electricity demand, rather than shifting the burden to Taipower.
Even if the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County is restarted, the power plant could only provide about 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity monthly, which is far below the estimated 3.5GW demand from the Nanzih and Shalun areas combined, Environmental Rights Foundation director Tang Lin-hsiang (湯琳翔) said.
The government plans to depend on the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung to meet most of the new electricity demand, which required expansion of multiple large gas units while preventing retirement of older ones, Tang said.
Such a method is not environmentally sustainable, Tang said.
The Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區), the project’s developer, said the project aims to host emerging industries such as software services, artificial intelligence of things, 5G and green energy.
It is expected to create about 6,600 jobs and generate an annual output value of about NT$960 billion (US$30.49 billion), with construction scheduled for completion by the end of 2033, it said.
All companies involved have committed to installing solar systems on office rooftops and are working toward the goal of having 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, it said.
They have partnered with renewable energy providers — including wind, solar and small hydropower — and signed long-term agreements, reaching about 3.1GW in total renewable capacity, the park administration said.
That reflects a strong commitment to expanding green energy use and achieving environmental sustainability, it added.
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