Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) yesterday said the suspension of Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp’s (台灣化學纖維) three power generators at its Changhua County plant would impact the stability of the nation’s electricity supply.
Formosa Chemicals’ coal-fired cogeneration power units had been one of Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) most important supplies of electricity over the past decades, as they could generate electricity with high efficiency, Lee said.
“The suspension of Formosa Chemicals’ electricity supply affects the total operating reserve by about 0.6 to 0.7 percent,” and it would have a long-term impact on electricity supply, Lee told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei.
The closure of the Changhua plant, which manufactured rayon and nylon, would also affect downstream companies in the local textile industry, Lee said.
Lee said it is possible to lower the carbon emissions or reduce air pollution from the cogeneration power units by adopting new technologies, but the Changhua County Government appears to have a different stance to the central government regarding the standards for carbon emissions, he added.
Lee said he is worried that the county government’s strict measures on Formosa Chemicals’ Changhua plant would be replicated by other local governments.
The permit for Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s (台塑石化) coal-fired power units at its naphtha cracker in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) is set to expire in April next year and the nation could suffer power shortages if the local government decides to shut down the Mailiao plant, which generates about 1.8 million kilowatts, as much as two nuclear power reactors, Lee said.
The ministry is drafting an impact analysis on the Changhua plant’s closure for the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office, Lee said.
The ministry would continue discussions with the Environmental Protection Administration and Formosa Chemicals to seek a solution, he said.
Meanwhile, the Economics Committee passed a nonbinding resolution that privately owned coal-fired power plants should be transformed to gas power plants before their electricity supply contracts with Taipower can be renewed.
The resolution is an effort to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The committee said the coal-fired power plants should suspend operations if they cannot be transformed into gas power plants and that Taipower should not renew the contracts if privately owned utilities fail to do so.
That includes Formosa Petrochemical’s Mailiao plant and Taiwan Cement Corp’s (台泥) coal-fired Hoping plant (和平電廠), whose contracts with Taipower expire in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
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