Call from the People-- Our Appeals

The mission of Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines is to protect the development of renewable energy in Taiwan. We are against nuclear energy, as well as any energy development construction that sacrifices rural residents’ right to their chosen livelihood.  In recent years, we have seen InfraVest Wind Power Co., who enjoys a monopoly on wind power in Taiwan, randomly constructing large wind turbines along the west coast of Taiwan without proper consultation with local communities.  In our hometown of Yuanli Township, InfraVest Wind Power Co. is forcefully pushing through its construction agenda while damaging the environment and threatening the local residents and protestors with law suits.  We hereby demand that InfraVest stops construction immediately, and we propose the following appeals to the company and related governmental agencies. Only when these demands are met can the development of renewable energy in Taiwan be sustainable and friendly to people and the environment.

1.    InfraVest should immediately stop construction of all wind turbines and communicate with the local residents in Yuanli.

The construction of wind turbines in Yuanli should be suspended immediately. InfraVest should re-negotiate with the local residents in Yuanli to fully explain the impact of wind turbines on the environment and people living nearby. It is InfraVest’s responsibility to respect the local residents’ rights to livelihood and health, instead of pushing through construction plans behind the scenes. 

2.    The Environmental Protection Administration should ask InfraVest to resubmit its proposal and redo the Environmental-Impact Assessment (EIA) Review, since several major flaws were found in the EIA Review of InfraVest’s wind farm project in Yuanli.

The information in the EIA report of the Yuanli project that InfraVest provides is clearly flawed and insufficient. The Environmental Protection Administration should ask InfraVest to resubmit the proposal and redo the assessment.  Meanwhile, the EPA should also ask InfraVest to suspend all construction until it passes the EIA Review.

3.    The Ministry of Economic Affairs should regulate the distance between wind turbines and nearby residential buildings to protect people’s safety and health.

The Bureau of Energy in the Ministry of Economic Affairs is the supervising agency for the windpower industry in Taiwan.  They should strictly regulate a safe distance between wind turbine constructions and nearby residential buildings.  Before the regulations are enacted, the agency should ask InfraVest to stop the construction immediately to protect the renewable energy industry in Taiwan from becoming corporations without conscience or social responsibility.

4.    We call on Standard Chartered, which provides a loan of Euro 68,700,000 to InfraVest, to review its deal in accordance with Equator Principles   

As a signatory of the Equator Principles, Standard Chartered stated on its website that it is “committed to assessing and classifying the environmental and social impacts that a client's operations will have against a common set of criteria.” It is evident that InfraVest’s operation in this case has caused serious social and environmental impacts on local residents.  We call on Standard Chartered to re-examine and re-evaluate the operation of InfraVest.

5.    We ask the German National Contact Point, a government office that handles disputes related to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, to look into InfraVest’s practices in Taiwan, which have prompted grave concerns regarding human rights violations.  

From its operation in Yuanli, InfraVest, as a German renewable energy company, has violated its corporate social responsibility as stated in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact by using coercion and threats against people expressing their concerns and opposition.

Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines

05.2013

more information https://www.facebook.com/YuanLicarzywindmills

The Illegal Environmental-impact Assessment Review

The Illegal Environmental-impact Assessment Review of InfraVest Wind Power Co.

Near the residential area of Yuanli Town, InfraVest (InfraVest Wind Power Co.) plans to build high-density wind turbines that are more than one hundred meters high with a rotating speed of 160km/h at the tail end of the rotor blades.. Besides the residential areas and settlements, harbors, roads, farmland, and even the natural reserves of white egret will all be in the shadow of giant wind turbines.

While InfraVest claims that it already passed the EIA review and obtained a construction permit, lawyers and engineering experts have found that the EIA review of this case was seriously flawed.  Not only does the information in its EIA report contain false information, but InfraVest, as a German renewable energy company, has violated its corporate social responsibility as stated in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact by using coercion and threats against people expressing their concerns and opposition.

FACT Sheet regarding the Unethical operation of InfraVest’s wind farm construction in Yuanli

1.    InfraVest manipulated the EIA review with false information

With respect to its development in three towns—Yuanli, Tongsiao and Jhunan—in its EIA report, InfraVest tried to deceive the EIA review commission by conforming to a seemingly reasonable scale in accordance with regulation.  However, its real plan is to transfer an additional five turbines to Yuanli Town, which has the shortest coastline among the three.  The residents have brought Infravest’s flawed EIA review to administrative court and the case is in process.

2.    Lack of consultation with local residents, who are the stakeholders in this case. 

InfraVest did not hold any public briefings or meetings with residents of Yuanli while the living environment in Yuanli was severely affected by InfraVest’s construction of wind turbines.  The majority of local residents knew nothing of the construction, which government thought was only minor construction when the machines and tools arrived in their village.  After realizing the situation, more than half of the residents stood up and opposed the construction. In spite of this, InfraVest still shows no sincerity in communicating with the local residents and keeps pushing for construction—even by force. Without sufficient communication with the stakeholders, the local residents have no trust in InfraVest and consider the construction illegitimate.

3. InfraVest claims that it is a “green company” while refusing to observe any CSR guidelines.  The company not only keeps providing false information to the government and the public, but it also hires thugs to use violence against the protestors.  Such practice has bankrupted its credibility and caused great danger to human life and the environment

In its EIA report, InfraVest clearly stated that they intended “to keep a long distance between the construction of wind turbines and any buildings.  The space between north-south bound turbines should be 350 meters, and the east-west 210 meters”. In reality, the company did not keep its promise in the report and most of the turbines have a much shorter interval space.  One engineering expert has expressed his concern that the insufficient distance will cause negative effects to the environment and even damage people’s lives and property.

Additional reports—

(FEATURE) Wind power firm hires thugs to protect site

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/06/10/2003564438

Our Journey of Protest

 

Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines supports the development of sustainable energy in Taiwan; however, we are against the inappropriate construction of wind turbines that are too close to residential areas.  This construction not only disregards people’s safety and health but also destroys the coastal environment. In addition, we are firmly opposed to vicious measures and tricks played by InfraVest Wind Power Co., a German company, to intentionally ignore local voices and to coerce protestors throughout the process.  Furthermore, we are deeply concerned that the behavior of InfraVest has seriously undermined and damaged the future and credibility of wind power development in Taiwan.

Last September, local residents in Yuanli were suddenly invited by InfraVest to attend an orientation about their construction plans.  It was the first time that local residents realized there would be several large wind turbines as tall as 120 meters built near their houses.  In order to understand the impact caused by the development project, the residents did some field research in other towns with wind farms, such as Houlong and Dajia, and talked to the people living nearby the turbines.  From the visit, they realized that these people are suffering from several disturbing symptoms.  Certain people have insomnia because of the constant noise, and some must rely on medication so they can sleep. Some residents suffer from depression since the noises made by wind turbines cause them severe mental stress.

Yuanli residents realized that once the wind turbines are built near their houses, the peaceful living environment in this coastal village will be completely destroyed. Hence, the local residents decided to get together and formed the Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines and started a difficult journey of protest.

During the protest, Yuanli residents went to the Bureau of Energy in Taipei and held several sit-in protests and even a hunger strike, which resulted in several people getting hospitalized. Still, government officials did not respond to the people’s request at all. On the site in Yuanli, where construction was ongoing, the residents’ non-violent protests were met with force and threats from police and private security.  Dozens of protestors were even beaten by police batons and arrested in handcuffs.  Now they face InfraVest pressing charges.

Facing many difficulties, members of the Self-Help Organization still keep their faith in justice. We believe that this battle is not only for Yuanli but also for all those who suffer from improper wind turbine development projects.  We are also determined to defend the future of green development in Taiwan.

We call for all people concerned about Yuanli and renewable energy in Taiwan to stand by us in solidarity and join us on this long and tough journey to protect our communities.

Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines

05.2013

more information https://www.facebook.com/YuanLicarzywindmills

Who is the InfraVest co.?

At the beginning of innoVent and infraVest in 1996, there were already several companies active in the area of wind energy in Germany. Thus the long-term goal already set at the founding of the company was not just to concentrate on the German market, but to expand beyond the German borders. Since then, the activities have rapidly spread to our European neighbors as well as to other continents, so that today the Group has a large, internationally promising portfolio of numerous wind projects in different stages of development.

http://www.infra-vest.com/english/mission.html


source: http://www.innovent.eu/index.php?id=12&L=1

Project, Function Location Status Windfarm Tongyuan, 19 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Miaoli, (Taiwan) under construction Windfarm Houlong, 21 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Miaoli, (Taiwan) in operation since 04/2013, the rest under construction Windfarm Xinfong, 5 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Xinchu, (Taiwan) in operation since 03/2012 Windfarm Chunan II, 3 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Miaoli, (Taiwan) in operation since 09/2011 Windfarm Guanyin, 21 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Taoyuan, (Taiwan) in operation between 2010 ~ 2013 Windfarm Taichung, 33 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Taichung, (Taiwan) in operation between 2009 ~ 2013 Windfarm Changbin, 42 x 2,300 kW project development, planning and realization Changhua, (Taiwan) in operation between 2007 ~ 2011 Windfarm Miaoli, 25 x 2,000 kW project development, planning and realization Miaoli, (Taiwan) in operation since 03/2006

Source http://www.infra-vest.com/english/project.html

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