A proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal near an algal reef off the coast of Datan in Taoyuan has been given the green light by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after clearing the environmental impact assessment process.
At the assessment hearing on Wednesday, the developer, state-run petroleum and natural gas supplier CPC Corp., pledged that the project would "maximize protection for the algal reef while minimizing the impact on Taiwan's energy supply."
CPC first announced plans in 2019 to build the terminal, for the purpose of storing and processing imported natural gas before piping it to the nearby Datan Power Plant for electricity generation.
Environmental groups, led by the Rescue Datan's Algal Reefs Alliance, have opposed the project, arguing that the construction and use of the terminal would cause irrevocable harm to the 27-kilometer algal reef, which took over 5,000 years to form and is home to multiple endangered species.
To address those concerns, the Cabinet revised the proposal in May 2021, suggesting that the terminal be built 450 meters further away from the coast, at a distance of 1.2 kilometers, in order to minimize dredging of the seabed.
On Dec. 18, 2021, a referendum on whether to relocate the terminal was rejected, in a 51.63 percent to 48.37 percent vote, although the total ballots fell short of the legally defined turnout threshold.
At Wednesday's hearing, Deputy Economic Minister Tseng Wen-sheng (???) said the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal will play a vital role in stabilizing Taiwan's energy supply, as the country moves toward reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy sources.
Tsai Ya-ying (???), convener of the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, said the government should reconsider its energy policy and hasten its transition to renewables, given that 9.7 percent of its natural gas imports last year came from Russia, which is now engaged in a war with Ukraine.
In response, CPC Corp. said that Taiwan imports natural gas from six to seven countries, including Australia and Middle Eastern states, which mitigates the risk of overreliance on a single market.
The approval of the environmental impact assessment came weeks after members of the assessment review committee reportedly expressed reservations about the project during a preliminary assessment.
The committee members who conducted the review last month said the government had chosen "the wrong location" and that the revised proposal was merely "the lesser of two evils," according to a United Daily News report.
The report cited Chang Hsueh-wen (???), a member of the review committee and a distinguished professor at the National Sun Yat-sen University's Department of Biological Sciences, as saying that the silt kicked up by construction of the terminal would inhibit photosynthesis, particularly during the gray fall and winter months, and "completely destroy the reefs."
In giving the green light on Wednesday, however, the EPA said there will be measures to prevent such damage. These will include the seasonal surveys throughout the year and video surveillance of the site, the EPA committee said.
The terminal is expected to start operations in 2025, becoming the third such facility in Taiwan. The two currently in operation are in Taichung and Kaohsiung.
In 2020, natural gas accounted for 35.66 percent of Taiwan's energy mix, second only to coal at 44.95 percent, according to Bureau of Energy data. Nuclear power accounted for 11.22 percent of the mix, while renewables made up 5.47 percent, the data showed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel