Estimated annual expenditure at Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) Nuclear Power Back-end Operations Fund has surged by NT$100 billion (US$3.4 billion) due to plans to incorporate two separate expenditure items into the fund, the state utility said in its latest report to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The increased amount is due to changes in operational costs after the retirement of nuclear power plants and the merging of the Promoting the Development of Power and Energy Subsidies and Radioactive Waste Storage Compensatory funds into payout items for the operations fund.
Merging the expenditures was in response to requests made by local residents, State Enterprise Commission Vice Chairperson Wu Fong-sheng (吳豐盛) told a news conference after an inspection on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Power Co
The residents demanded the continuation of payouts from the compensatory fund and subsidies based on rates when the power plant is running at full capacity, Wu said.
The company paid between NT$81 million and NT$85 million to residents of New Taipei City’s Shihmen (石門), Sanjih (三芝) and Jinshan (金山) districts in 2013 and 2014, when the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen was running at full capacity.
The subsidies are based on the wattage of power generated, storage capacity and other necessities, Taipower said.
As for compensatory funds, the company offered NT$200 per barrel of low-radiation waste stored near the power plant and NT$60 per barrel for other areas, the company said.
The company offered NT$30,000 per tonne of waste for those living near the power plant and NT$9,000 per tonne in other areas.
Should the commission approve the request, the operation fund will pay NT$176 million per year, totaling NT$4.4 billion over 25 years, after which the power plant must shut down entirely, Wu said.
The commission would ask the company to consider offering a sum that would not be less than the subsidies offered when the plant is running at full capacity, Wu said.
As for changes in operational costs, Taipower cited additional expenditures of NT$30 billion to transform part of the plant into a dry storage facility, an undisclosed amount to establish a management center to centralize storage of nuclear waste, and another NT$20 billion for the eventual relocation of the Orchid Island (蘭嶼) storage facilities.
Depending on the storage site and method, it would cost NT$40 billion to NT$80 billion to store nuclear waste for the required 40 years, Taipower said.
The ministry told the Legislative Yuan that the total proposed expenditure of NT$470 billion is only one of the options being considered, adding that it would reach a final decision later.
The commission said that even if the budget proposal was approved, Taipower would still have to abide by the plans made by the ministry and the Atomic Energy Council, adding that the fund would be subject to re-evaluation every five years or during crises.
The fund is short NT$14 billion and if a proposal to raise the percentage of funds drawn from electricity fees is not approved by the Evaluation Committee for Power Pricing, Taipower would have to write the amount off as operational losses.
Starting from 1987, the public paid NT$0.14 to NT$0.18 to the fund per kilowatt of power generated, a figure that was increased to NT$0.17 in 2011 and to NT$0.37 in 2013, Taipower statistics showed.
As of December last year, the fund had accrued NT$338 billion, they showed.
The company said it estimates an annual expenditure of NT$20 billion until 2025 to cover the losses with operational surplus.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS