Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) is planning to build a third receiving station that can store up to 6 million tonnes of imported natural-gas for use at four natural gas power generators, Taipower president Chu Wen-chen (朱文成) said.
Chu said the total costs of power generation have risen sharply on the back of increasing fuel prices, prompting Taipower to bring the plan forward.
As of the end of last month, Taipower had suffered a cumulative loss of NT$13.5 billion (US$449 million) for the year, and its loss this month is estimated to reach NT$3.6 billion.
Adding a cumulative loss of NT$193.1 billion incurred since 2003 would bring the company’s total loss to NT$210.2 billion, Chu said, citing Taipower statistics.
Chu said fuel costs for power generation account for nearly 70 percent of the company’s annual electricity revenue of about NT$500 billion.
NT$50 billion to NT$60 billion per year is spent on generating coal-fired power, while NT$300 billion is used to purchase natural gas from state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan.
Chu said the cost to build the third receiving station is estimated at NT$60 billion to NT$70 billion and will allow the storage of between 3 million and 6 million tonnes of imported natural gas to be used in natural gas power generators.
However, construction and installing peripheral equipment are expected to take at least 10 years after an environmental impact assessment has been carried out.
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