Today (14th) the EIA Conference reviewed the "Mailiao Steam Power Company's gas-fired recirculation power generation unit, the new construction of the LNG receiving station and the environmental impact statement for the modification of the Mailiao Industrial Port".

(Photo by reporter Chen Jiayi)

[Reporter Chen Jiayi/Taipei Report] In order to cooperate with the government's energy transformation policy and reduce the proportion of coal-fired, Mailiao Gas and Power Company plans to replace the existing coal-fired units with natural gas, and set up natural gas receiving stations and unloading docks.

The environmental impact assessment meeting was held today (14th). The Environmental Protection Commission requested that the supplementary measures for the protection of the little tern and the land ecological investigation should be carried out in accordance with the promise of the development unit.

The development unit, Mailiao Gas and Power Company, said that in response to the government's energy transformation policy, the proportion of natural gas power generation must be increased to 50%, and the proportion of coal-fired power generation must be reduced to 30%. There are 3 coal-fired units. At the same time, 4 LNG receiving stations and LNG unloading terminals will be built in the Mailiao Industrial Port Area. The estimated construction period is 5 years.

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A representative of the Energy Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs believes that the conversion of coal-fired units to gas-fired units will have positive benefits for the environment and will also contribute to net zero carbon emissions, and agrees with the development plan.

The representative of the Yunlin County government also said that the transformation of Maidian and the development of Mailiao Port have a positive impact on the local area. In principle, they will support it, and hope that the development unit will strictly abide by the environmental impact assessment commitments in the future.

Jian Liangui, the convener of the environmental impact assessment task force, Li Junfu of the Environmental Protection Committee explained that in order to reduce air pollution, the development unit has promised that coal-fired and gas-fired units will not operate at the same time during the review stage of the task force, and has promised to evaluate the use of 0.1% low-sulfur oil for ships. feasibility; in addition, the development unit has also provided sea area ecological monitoring data to explain that the development plan will not affect the habitat of white dolphins.

Therefore, the task force made a conclusion and agreed to send the case to the EIA Conference for review.

At today's EIA meeting, the Environmental Commission further requested that the development unit specifically promise that construction ships will use low-sulfur oil with a sulfur content of 0.1%.

The development unit responded that it will actively consult with CNPC, and will use it as long as it is available.

Cai Hongde, chairman of the EIA conference, said that as far as he knew, CNPC also used imported low-sulfur oil, and asked the Bureau of Energy whether Formosa Plastics could also import it?

The representative of the Energy Bureau explained that the role of Formosa Plastics is the same as that of CNPC, and it can also be imported.

After you come and go, the development unit finally promised to follow suit.

In terms of ecology, the Environmental Protection Committee put forward a number of requirements.

Some environmental protection commissions pointed out that the environmental monitoring sample points of the development unit are all outside the scope of development, which does not meet the supervision of ecological surveys. They requested that representative terrestrial ecological survey sites be re-planned in accordance with relevant regulations, and the ecological survey routes should be marked.

The development unit explained that they were citing Liuqing’s long-term ecological monitoring plan, and the three development scopes of unit reconstruction, natural gas receiving station, and unloading wharf are all within Liuqing. They believe that Liuqing’s monitoring plan should be of reference value. However, in response to the Environmental Protection Commission's proposal, it promised to increase ecological survey points in three development areas in the future.

The environmental protection committee also believes that the supplementary ecological survey of migratory birds by the development unit is carried out in May and August, and there is no way to accurately grasp the arrival time of summer and winter migratory birds.

In particular, the breeding season of the lesser tern from the beginning of May to the end of July may be missed, so the terrestrial ecological data did not investigate the breeding of the lesser tern.

In addition, the Environmental Protection Committee also requires the development unit to suspend the construction work within a radius of 50 meters in the nesting area if the small terns are found breeding and nesting in the construction area, and resume construction after the young birds leave the nest; for the affected trees in the development area , For example, trees such as Podocarpus pine should be completely transplanted, and if the tree dies, it should be replanted immediately.

The development order commitment will be handled in accordance with the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Committee.

In the end, the EIA committee agreed to pass the EIA review of the case of Maidian’s fuel-medium conversion to gas after requesting the development unit to supplement relevant information.