A hydroelectric power plant project in eastern Taiwan that has been in the pipeline for some 20 years is facing opposition from Indigenous communities and environmental groups, who say it presents flooding dangers and could impact farming and cultural traditions.
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00:00Rice farmer Luzgav Sunavan has lived in this village in eastern Taiwan all his life.
00:07He's part of the indigenous Bunun people, who rely on this land and the adjoining river
00:11for their livelihood.
00:13But he's worried that may now be under threat.
00:30The Fengping River, one of the last remaining free-flowing rivers in the country, is facing
00:50a change.
00:51A hydroelectric dam project that has been dormant for decades may finally be built here,
00:57generating enough clean energy to power 55,000 households per year.
01:03The proposed dam project would use a diversion-type system, where the elevation difference between
01:08the water's entry and exit points would run a turbine, affecting at least two indigenous
01:13villages between these two points in the river, Taosai and Davila.
01:21For those in these communities, the river not only provides irrigation but is also central
01:26to their culture, as the location is used for hunting and important celebrations.
01:53Taosai village sits just five meters above the riverbed, which means the risk of flood
01:57is high.
01:59The town actually prepares to evacuate whenever rainfall reaches above 300 millimeters.
02:03Opponents of the power plant fear that if the new dams were to ever break, the flooding
02:08in the village would be disastrous.
02:11And it's aggravating residents' concerns, in this area so prone to earthquakes.
02:39The project was approved by the communities through a vote in 2022, but many feel the
02:44process was not entirely democratic, causing conflicts within and between the communities.
02:58Large infrastructure projects like this also require an environmental impact assessment
03:03every three years until construction begins, but environmental groups say the project has
03:08been able to escape this requirement as well.
03:35The company behind the project, Shinfox Energy, has promised jobs to the remote villages and
03:41minimal impact to the river.
03:43Taiwan Plus reached out to Shinfox Energy, which declined to comment on this story.
03:49Though officially underway, the project remains a sensitive issue, especially for those who
03:54will be directly affected by the dam's construction.
03:58Just like Taiwan's last free-flowing river, the residents here find themselves caught
04:03between losing their way of life and the country's green energy goals.
04:08Justin Wu and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.