Thursday, September 12, 2019

Taiwan: Geothermal Power Projects Compete in Yilan County

Rival geothermal projects raising heat in Yilan County (Taipei Times)

Unfair? A geothermal power firm owner called for a Control Yuan probe on the county blocking his project, while making it easy for a rival company

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.

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.

Read More.........