Taizigang wind power development EIA under scrutiny: committee member also serves as chairman of the Wind Energy Association

This Friday (1/8), the development project for Wpd Energy Company's Yunlin Taizigang site is about to be convened, and it may stage a scenario in which the chairman of the Wind Energy Association (Chien Lien-kuei) reviews the development project of the association's standing director (Wang Yun-yi, chairwoman of Wpd Energy Company).

Previously, Wpd Energy Company had just clashed with Yunlin coastal fishermen at sea, and later there was even the outrageous incident of Wpd contractor personnel carrying knives into the county government to negotiate with fishermen. Yesterday (1/6), it was also reported that fishermen had signed up to attend Friday's EIA meeting, and for some unknown reason the company immediately knew about it and called the fishermen to advise them: "Do not go north to participate in the EIA meeting." This outrageous conduct has already caused the fishermen to feel indignation.

Legislator Chen Chiao-hua believes: "EIA committee members who serve as directors or supervisors of industry associations should recuse themselves on their own initiative." Lawyer Wen Lu-pin, who once served as an EIA committee member, believes: "The powers and responsibilities of EIA committee members concern major public interests, and the highest ethical standards should be adopted: proactively disclose information, and voluntarily recuse themselves when there is a controversy, so as not to damage the transcendent impartiality of the EIA system."

An EIA committee member also serves as chairman of the Wind Energy Association; how can conflicts of interest be avoided?

Recently, Legislator Chen Chiao-hua and environmental groups jointly held a press conference to demand a suspension of the third phase of wind power development. Chen also pointed out that domestic offshore wind power-related EIA regulations are insufficient, and that there is even the absurd situation of EIA committee members reviewing wind power development projects while also serving as directors or supervisors of related industry associations.

After verification by a NewsMarket reporter, the person currently serving as chairman of the Wind Energy Association and as an EIA committee member of this term is only Chien Lien-kuei, a professor in the Department of Harbor and River Engineering at National Taiwan Ocean University. His profile page shows that Chien Lien-kuei himself specializes in disaster prevention technology, offshore wind power engineering, and offshore cable protection measures.

Chen Chiao-hua believes: "It is clearly inappropriate for the chairman of an industry association with a specific stance to serve as an EIA committee member, and this should be avoided as much as possible." She believes that EIA committee members have considerable influence over whether large-scale development projects proceed, and should do their utmost to avoid conflicts of interest, so as to demonstrate a transcendent stance and independence and impartiality.