The Yilan County Government is endangering a geothermal power generation project by denying it land use rights, former Taiwan Environmental Protection Union chairman Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎) said yesterday, announcing that he has asked the Control Yuan to investigate the situation.
Kao, who runs a geothermal power company, told a news conference in Taipei that his firm and National Yilan University have been collaborating on a project to generate geothermal power at the Cingshuei Geothermal Plant by using a well that CPC Corp, Taiwan had drilled in the hope of finding petroleum.
However, ever since the county government awarded a build-operate-transfer (BOT) geothermal power project to another company about three years ago, it has been trying to drive his firm away, he said.
His company is operating on a lease contract between the county government and the university, but the county government has said that it would not continue granting the university land use rights for the well, Kao said.
An Yilan County deputy commissioner in April said that the county would extend the contract until the end of next year, but it has not kept its word, and the contract is scheduled to end today, he said.
His geothermal power generation unit has a capacity of 150 kilowatts (kW), which translates to an annual revenue of NT$5 million (US$160,154) at a price of NT$6.1 per kilowatt-hour, but the other company’s project, which has the rights to use a nearby well with a capacity of 250kW, is more lucrative for the county government.
His facility, which took four-and-a-half years to research and develop, has been generating electricity for public use since April, but has not been paid by Taiwan Power Co, as the county government has refused to grant it a land use permit and a so-called “miscellany waiving permit” for small-scale renewable energy generation facilities, Kao said.
The two wells are on the same plot of land, so he wants to know why his project, which occupies less space, is facing obstacles, while the other firm was able to bypass an environmental review to build its geothermal power generation facility, he said.
“Holdovers from the former Yilan County administration” have apparently hijacked Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙), Kao said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS