The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday reiterated the necessity of rebuilding the coal-fired Shenao Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), while Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) restarted the No. 2 reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant.
“Without rebuilding the Shenao plant, the nation’s operating reserve margin would be 14.9 percent by 2025, less than the required 15 percent,” Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told a news conference.
More importantly, there would be an imbalance in regional power supply, as the power plants in southern Taiwan would have to supply electricity to the north without the support of the Shenao plant, Shen said.
The minister’s remarks came as Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Deputy Minister Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴) said he would not sign off on the passage of the Shenao plant’s environmental impact assessment if the ministry does not clearly explain its necessity.
The reason the plant would use coal instead of natural gas is mainly because of limited natural gas storage space in the area, Shen said.
In addition, the installation of underwater natural gas pipes could negatively affect marine life, while land pipes would pass through densely populated regions in the municipality, Shen said.
Taipower has pledged to install ultra-supercritical coal-fired generators and aims to reduce sulfur oxide and nitric oxide emissions, he said.
Meanwhile, Taipower gave the order to restart the No. 2 reactor at the Guosheng plant in New Taipei’s Wanli District (萬里) yesterday, a day after receiving official written approval from the Atomic Energy Council.
The process to get the reactor running at full capacity would take nine days, with the first five days dedicated to reconnecting circuits and the next four to boosting generating capacity, Taipower chairman Yang Wei-fuu (楊偉甫) said.
A fully operational second reactor would give Taipower more flexibility in supplying power starting next month, Yang said, with Shen adding that it would boost the operating reserve margin by 3 percent.
As summer approaches, Taipower would try to keep its operating reserve margin at 6 percent or more to accommodate an expected increase in electricity use, Yang said.
The operating reserve fell below 2 percent at times in August last year, leaving the nation vulnerable to plant breakdowns and power shortages.
Additional reporting by CNA
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) employee bonuses are likely to grow more than 30 percent this year, in line with the past few years as the company’s profits continue to set new records, an anonymous source cited TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as saying yesterday. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is committed to taking care of its workers, the source said, citing Wei’s meeting with employees yesterday morning. Wei also expressed gratitude to employees for their contribution to the company’s improving bottom line, the source added. Since 2023, TSMC’s employee bonuses have grown at an annual rate of
RSS