Restarting work on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and deferring decommissioning of the Guosheng plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and Ma-anshan plant in Pingtung County’s Ma-anshan (馬鞍山) would pose technical difficulties, so plans to do so are infeasible, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said yesterday in response to a proposal by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has said on numerous occasions that Taiwan would not face an energy shortage in the run-up to 2030, Kolas told a news conference in Taipei after a Cabinet meeting.
State-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) in January said it plans to invest more than NT$400 billion (US$12.75 billion) to develop sources of renewable energy over the next 15 years, with the aim of expanding the nation’s total installed offshore wind power capacity to 180 megawatts and total installed solar power capacity to 100 megawatts by 2030.
Photo: Peng Wan-hsin, Taipei Times
The government is dedicated to developing sources of renewable energy, with those currently installed allowing the nation to retain an operating reserve of 10 percent last month, despite peak summer demand for electricity, an unprecedented feat, she said.
The Executive Yuan reiterated that it is the government’s job to ensure a clean and stable supply of energy while maintaining public safety, she said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers denounced an energy policy proposed by the advisory team of Han’s, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, calling it “deceptive.”
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said that she was frightened by Han’s promise to restart work at the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and the shortsightedness of former premier Simon Chang (張善政), who is head of Han’s advisory team.
The plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) was officially mothballed in July 2015 during then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, while state-run Taipower last year started transporting unused fuel rods from the plant to the US.
The policy proposed by Han and Chang became an “evangelical meeting” to promote nuclear power, Kuan said.
While the DPP administration plans to generate 20 percent of the nation’s power from renewable sources by 2025, Han’s team’s proposal to generate 50 percent of total energy from renewable sources sounds unrealistic and needs more explanation, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said.
Han’s team must clarify whether it wants to build additional nuclear power plants, Yeh said.
Separately, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Han should do more homework before commenting on energy policy, adding that New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi’s (侯友宜) concerns over nuclear waste and his hesitation to resume construction of the mothballed plant is more practical.
Taiwan does not face power shortages, she said, adding that any proposals to restart work on the plant need to answer the question about how to tackle nuclear waste.
Policy explanation requires pragmatic efforts over time, which should not be outsourced to an advisory team that actually comprises members from the previous KMT administration, Tsai said.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
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Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
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