A petition to move a planned natural gas processing plant in order to protect an algal reef has received enough signatures to be put before voters in a referendum. If the referendum passes, the site of the plant is likely to be moved from Taoyuan to the Port of Taipei.
However, on Wednesday, Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua said that a yes vote on the referendum would require an environmental impact assessment for the new site, pushing the plant’s completion back by eleven years.
She said that in the meantime, the north of Taiwan would see power shortages, leading to other environmental impacts, as coal-fired plants elsewhere in the country ramp up their output to make up for the shortfall.