Changhua Coast Solar Crisis: Environmental Groups Urge Swift Designation of National Wetland to Protect National Treasure

In 2011, environmental groups nationwide joined forces to block the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical development project, saving over ten thousand hectares of precious intertidal wetlands along the coast of Fangyuan and Dacheng townships in Changhua. Unexpectedly, a decade later, this coastal wetland that survived the ordeal once again faces a solar development crisis.

Singapore-based Meouya Energy Company presented a briefing yesterday (the 26th) stating it plans to invest in more than ten solar projects along the Changhua coast, with the first located on coastal land outside the seawall in Dacheng Township, named "Haijing New Energy." The project is expected to lease 93.5 hectares of state-owned land from the National Property Administration, with an estimated power generation capacity of 99.975MW.

The Changhua County Environmental Protection Union held a press conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei today (the 27th), rallying environmental and ecological groups that had participated in opposing the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical project, as well as the over 70,000 people nationwide who signed up to adopt the Changhua coastal wetland, to once again plead for the Dacheng Township coast and call on the government to preserve the nation's largest coastal wetland.

Legislator Chen Chiao-hua, who voiced support, also argued that when green energy is built in the wrong location and destroys the environment, it is no longer clean energy. Tsai Chung-yueh, deputy CEO of the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, also sharply criticized the situation, saying that a few wrong site selections should not undermine the positive value of energy transition, and expressed hope that the government would soon cancel this wrongly sited solar development.

Changhua's Precious Wetland Targeted by Foreign Company, Plans to Build Solar Panels One After Another

The Changhua Environmental Protection Union rallied over twenty environmental groups from across the nation that had opposed Kuo Kuang Petrochemical, gathering at the Legislative Yuan to hold a press conference, demanding the government swiftly designate the Zhuoshui River estuary and Changhua coast as a "national-level wetland," and calling on the foreign solar company to voluntarily withdraw the project and leave the Changhua coastal wetland for ecological restoration!

The Changhua Environmental Protection Union stated that as early as December 17, 2009, the Construction and Planning Agency of the Ministry of the Interior had already rated the Zhuoshui River estuary wetland, Changhua Dacheng wetland, and Hanbao wetland as "international-level Changhua coastal wetlands," the number one rated wetland in the nation, yet it never received attention due to the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical development project. Now that the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical project has long been halted, the Changhua coast still has not obtained national-level wetland status, leading solar companies to covet it.

Changhua's wetlands have been successively targeted by companies, with the solar development proposals from "Haijing New Energy," "Xinzheng Energy," and "Yongyao Energy" all backed by the same Singapore-based foreign company, Meouya. Facing the encroachment of solar photovoltaic development, the Changhua Environmental Protection Union believes the foreign company only sees short-term profits from solar sites and has no intention of long-term local operation. They hope the government will immediately designate the Changhua coast as a national-level wetland, giving the precious ecology legally protected status.

70,000 People Want to Buy Coastal Ecological Hotspot Through Trust, to Protect White Dolphins and Protected Bird Species

"Two former presidents have visited this site. Now we see the entire coast is about to be covered with solar panels. How can we bear it?" emphasized Shih Yueh-ying, secretary-general of the Changhua Environmental Protection Union. She stressed that environmental groups do not oppose green energy, but oppose wrong site selection. "This is a first-class coastal protection zone!"

The Changhua County Wild Bird Society has continued monitoring birds along this coast since the Kuo Kuang Petrochemical protest, finding over two hundred bird species inhabiting the area, including 35 protected species. The globally watched Oriental stork has a population at the Zhuoshui River estuary, and the East Asian endemic Saunders's gull also uses this as a stopover point. Li Yi-hsin, secretary-general of the Changhua Bird Society, said some developers and even the government consider coastal intertidal zones to be wasteland where renewable energy can be developed. "But coastal intertidal zones are absolutely not wasteland. They are extremely important treasure troves of biodiversity."

The Environmental Information Association filed a "Zhuoshui River Estuary Reclaimed Land Public Trust" application with the Ministry of the Interior at the time, obtaining over 70,000 shareholders across Taiwan who wanted to formally purchase the coastal wetland to protect the white dolphin. Deputy Secretary-General Sun Hsiu-ju stated that the government should swiftly protect this nationally important wetland, that green energy development should not conflict with ecological conservation, and called on all 70,000 shareholders to pay attention to this Changhua coastal solar crisis, giving the white dolphin and the people and life that depend on the sea a safe environment to survive.

Three Generations of Fishermen Have Toiled for Decades, Creating Farmland from the Sea and Unwilling to Give Up

On the Changhua coastal wetland, there is also a reclaimed-land aquaculture area of nearly sixty to seventy hectares. This aquaculture area was originally within the wetland scope but is agricultural land maintained through long-term reclamation by fishermen. It is now also included within the scope of the solar "Haijing New Energy Development Project."

Since this is the first of more than ten development sites by the Meouya Group on the Changhua coastal wetland, it has drawn particular attention from local environmental groups, becoming the first site where the two forces converge. However, beyond the conflict between environmental protection and development, there is also the survival issue of aquaculture fishermen.

Local aquaculture farmer Hsu Chia-fa said most of them are second- or third-generation aquaculture operators on that coast, and the solar company should first respect the principle of first come, first served. Third-generation aquaculture farmer Hsu Yuan-hsiung said the reclaimed land is where aquaculture farmers established their own livelihood outside the coastal seawall. In earlier years, the government encouraged aquaculture, and fishermen reclaimed land from the sea through their own efforts, taking decades to reach the current scale. Although the regulatory environment has changed and the National Property Administration is unwilling to continue leasing the land, that does not mean fishermen's right to survival should be trampled. "We will absolutely not easily retreat."

Fisherman Cheng Wei-cheng said that counting from when the previous generation took over, the family's aquaculture has a foundation of 3 to 4 decades. If they have to relocate, the production environment would be different, almost equivalent to starting over. "It doesn't matter whether we earn more or less. What we want is a stable life, at least one we can sustain."

Developer: Will Turn Barren Land into a Solar City, Hopes to Prosper the Local Area

Lee Chao-ming, development director of the Singapore-based "Meouya Green Energy Company," said that at the current stage, the Haijing New Energy site has obtained lease rights from the National Property Administration and a land development consent letter. More than ten sites will be developed successively in the future. Meouya has successful experience in Japan, developing coastal "barren land" into a "solar science city."

The developer explained that although this project is located in a first-class coastal protection zone, the development process will comply with regulations and the existing land environment, and will not cause large-scale disturbance. On the contrary, it will add buffer green belts and ecological compensation zones, and is confident of obtaining permission from the "Ocean Management Review Committee." He also emphasized that this area itself is unsuitable for farming, and they have simultaneously applied to the Council of Agriculture for land conversion and have already obtained the Bureau of Energy's establishment permit and consent filing.

In response to environmental groups' doubts that the foreign company is merely using solar development to obtain financing and loans with no intention of long-term operation, Lee Chao-ming emphasized that the company is confident about growing together with the local area. Future construction and operations will generate substantial local consumption, and future construction workforce needs will prioritize local hiring. He also promised an annual feedback payment of 2 million to the Changhua County Government to subsidize nutritional lunches and community needs.

The developer also argued that most of the aquaculture fishermen on the 60 to 70 hectares of the current "Haijing site" have not signed leases with the National Property Administration and are engaged in illegal aquaculture. For illegal aquaculture operators occupying the land, the company has fulfilled its communication responsibilities and has done its best to propose coordination and compensation terms, but unfortunately no consensus was reached.