TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Residents of Taixi Village in Changhua County’s Dacheng Township resumed protests Monday against a land-based wind turbine project after developers restarted construction despite previously promising to suspend work.
Chang Pin Wind Power had pledged on Dec. 30 to pause construction of a turbine located about 200 meters from the village, per Liberty Times. Residents said construction noise on Monday triggered outrage, prompting villagers to surround the site. Workers later withdrew from the area.
Kang Ming-po (康銘博), president of the Anti–Land-Based Wind Turbine League Self-Help Association, said an existing turbine about 800 meters from the village already produces severe nighttime noise, likening it to “a helicopter that can’t take off.” He criticized plans to install another turbine even closer to homes and warned residents would continue protesting if construction resumes.
The Changhua County Department of Economic and Renewable Energy said wind power facilities with a generating capacity exceeding 2 megawatts fall under the authority of the central government’s Energy Administration, per UDN. The department said it has already forwarded residents’ concerns to the relevant agency.
Regulation of land-based wind turbines in Taiwan remains limited. Apart from a minimum setback of 500 meters from residential areas, a requirement that took a decade of advocacy to be enacted, project oversight largely depends on environmental impact assessments, per AgriJourney News.
Although Environment Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) has publicly said his ministry does not encourage land-based wind turbine development, the Ministry of Economic Affairs continues to support such projects as part of national energy policy. Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲), an official with the Energy Administration, said the relatively low cost and technical threshold of land-based wind power have attracted many inexperienced developers to the market.
At a previous environmental impact assessment meeting for a wind turbine project in Dacheng, a committee member noted that turbines built too close to residences can feel oppressive to residents, while installations in remote areas significantly increase costs, per AgriJourney News. The member suggested such development models may eventually prove unsustainable.
A Taiwanese study has found that low-frequency noise from wind turbines can adversely affect health, with impacts reported by residents living more than 250 meters away, per AgriJourney News. Former Academia Sinica researcher Chiu Chun-hsiang (邱俊祥) said that measures such as developer-funded airtight window installations and reduced turbine operating speeds at night make a 500-meter minimum distance a reasonable balance between profitability and public health.
Chiu added that while current regulations do not require developers to install airtight windows, they have a moral obligation to mitigate health impacts. He also said turbines should operate at reduced speeds at night to lessen disruption to nearby residents.
