Spare nuclear power can be tapped to ensure a stable power supply in the event of an emergency, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said in an interview published yesterday as he reaffirmed the government’s energy transition goals.
Although the government plans to phase out nuclear power, a reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant could be reactivated when necessary, Lin said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
“Although [the reactor] is not considered part of the operating reserve, I would make a formal report to the Legislative Yuan to reactivate it as a last resort in the event of a predictable power shortage. The manufacturing industry should have confidence in the power supply,” Lin said.
Photo: CNA
However, he reaffirmed the government is committed to phasing out nuclear power while boosting natural gas-generated power and renewable power to 50 percent and 20 percent of the total power generation respectively, and reducing coal-fired power to 30 percent by 2025.
“Taiwan has few natural resources and there are problems with either nuclear power, coal-fired power or natural gas-fired power. We have to make a choice, but nuclear power is too dangerous. The nation would be endangered in case of a nuclear disaster,” he said.
Pressed by reporters about Lin’s comments, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) yesterday said that the reactor would only be used as a last resort to maintain an adequate power supply.
“Unless there is no other way to keep power from running short, there are no safety concerns, and society agrees to reactivate the idle nuclear reactors, the reactors at the first and second nuclear power plants will not be restarted,” Hsu said.
The shutdown of a power plant in Hualien County after a typhoon last month downed a transmission tower resulted in contingency energy-saving measures, and the malfunction of a power plant in Taoyuan that caused a massive outages around the nation on Aug. 15 have pointed to grid management problems, not the need for nuclear power generation, Lin said.
The Democratic Progressive Party, shortly after it won the general elections last year, told Taiwan Power Co (台電) to plan an electricity supply scheme without extending the lifespan of the nation’s three active nuclear power plants or activating the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Lin said.
Wind and solar power and a stable grid storage system have to be developed to ensure uninterrupted supply in off seasons to achieve such a goal, and a “smart” grid system has to be established to reduce power consumption during peak hours, he said.
The development of solar power, although technically more viable, is limited to land availability, so wind power has more potential than solar power, he said.
Major wind power farms could begin operations in 2020, and they could generate about 3.5 gigawatts (GW) to 4GW by 2025 when all three operating nuclear plants are due to be decommissioned, he said.
It is important to reduce peak hour consumption to maintain stable supplies without building more power plants, Lin said.
A “smart” household meter system would allow users to know real-time consumption and encourage them to adopt a flexible electricity pricing system, which demands a high rate during peak hours while offering during off-peak times.
The government has been developing a “smart” meter system, with 1 million households set to install the system by the end of 2019 and 3 million households in 2020, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved an aid and recovery package authorizing the government to allocate up to NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) for regions hit by Typhoon Danas and subsequent torrential rains last month. Proposed by the Executive Yuan on Aug. 7, the bill was passed swiftly after ruling and opposition lawmakers reached a consensus in inter-party talks on relief funding and assistance for disaster-stricken areas. The package increases the government’s spending cap from the originally proposed NT$56 billion to NT$60 billion, earmarked for repairing and rebuilding infrastructure, electricity systems, telecommunications and cable TV networks, cultural heritage sites and other public facilities.
RSS