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.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2