Power crisis averted with `God's help'

Northern Taiwan has narrowly avoided power restrictions in the past few days thanks to the godsend of cooler weather, executives at the state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said yesterday.

Had it not been for the cooler weather, the executives said, recent shutdowns at Taipower and private power plants would have forced the restrictions.

When temperatures soar, so does the use of electricity-guzzling air conditioners.

Newly appointed Taipower President Lin Ching-chi (林清吉) said yesterday that transformer shutdowns at the First Nuclear Power Plant (核一) in Taipei County and the Formosa Plastic Group's Mailiao Plant (麥寮電廠) on Tuesday had dropped the nation's power supply to critically low levels.

Lin said that a nitrogen gas leak in one of the transformers at the First Nuclear Power Plant had triggered alarms on Monday evening. The leak led the plant's operators to bring the No. 1 636-megawatt turbine generator off line on Tuesday morning for inspection.

The impact of these shutdowns had been compounded by the fact that the 1,902-megawatt Third Nuclear Power Plant (核三) was off-line as a result of an emergency shutdown last month. Meanwhile, repair and maintenance work is still underway on Taipower's 1,085-megawatt Linkou Plant (林口電廠) and the 1,970-megawatt Second Nuclear Power Plant (核二).

"On Tuesday the nation's power supply was at roughly 22,100 megawatts, while demand was virtually the same or just a little below that figure," Lin said.

In fact, according to Taipower data, estimated demand on Tuesday hit 21,000 megawatts, a mere 1,100 megawatts below the nation's available supply.

As of December, the nation's capacity was 29,634 megawatts.

"Originally, in the morning we began considering enforcing power restrictions, but God helped out and a cool change came through and the threat of restrictions passed," Lin said.

Lin said whether restrictions on power consumption are imposed in the future depends largely on the weather.

"The weather can change rapidly in the spring ... so from now until Friday, when the maintenance on the First Nuclear Power Plant should be completed, will be the nervous period in terms of the nation's power supply," Lin said.

Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) said transmission lines linking the north, where the nation's power needs are the greatest, to the south -- where the bulk of the power is produced -- should help northern Taiwan avoid electricity rationing.