Naphtha Cracker #6 (六輕)
FPG's naphtha cracker – the sixth petrochemical processing plant of that kind in Taiwan – was first proposed in 1973, but the ruling KMT government still imposed a monopoly at that time and denied permission. Permission was granted in 1986, as President Chiang Ching-kuo instituted reforms to loosen the authoritarianism instituted by his father, Chiang Kai-shek. At that time, FPG proposed a NT$90 billion complex that would be located in the Litzu Industrial Zone of Ilan County. Local residents opposed this plan on the basis of its environmental impact and, led by County Magistrate Chen Ding-Nan (陳定南), formed the Alliance against Sixth Naphtha Cracker. After a successful campaign, including a televised debate between Chen and FPG Chairman Wang, they eventually forced the company to look elsewhere. The second site proposed by FPG, in Taoyuan County's Kuanyin Industrial Zone, generated similar opposition from local residents.
FPG shelved these proposals in 1989 and Chairman Wang Yung-ching traveled secretly to mainland China to find a solution there. In 1990, he announced his intention to develop the complex on the People's Republic of China-controlled island of Haitsang, in Fujian Province. The Nationalist government condemned the project and in 1992 secured an offshore site near Mailiao, in Taiwan's impoverished Yunlin County, where local administrators welcomed the investment.
Total investment in the complex, after four phases of construction throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, included the following major features:
This project provoked intense opposition, just as Chiang Ching-kuo's reforms allowed tolerance for public expressions of dissatisfaction. The environmentalists' public protests, including a 3000-person rally at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1990, reflected the island's gradual transformation from authoritarianism to democracy. Beyond environmental concerns, protesters and newly legalized opposition parties denounced the cronyism they saw in the expedited approvals, extended tax holiday, subsidized loans, extremely low land prices for the land, and special allowance for a private port.
During the construction of Naphtha Cracker #6, further trouble arose when 200 to 300 Thai and Filipino workers fought on 5 September 1999. The brawl was reported to have lasted eight hours. Despite these complications, the plant proceeded as scheduled and continues to enjoy government support.
- an oil refinery: 450,000 barrels (72,000 m3) per day
- a naphtha cracking plant (production capacity: 1.35 million tons ethylene per year)
- a coal-burning power plant (capacity: 3 GW)
- Taiwan's first wind power plant (total combined capacity of the four turbines: 2,640 kW).
