If the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant cannot become operational due to public opposition, the operational periods of the three existing plants will have to be extended, which could cost between NT$35 billion and NT$40 billion (US$1.16 billion and US$1.33 billion) to renew equipment, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said.
Company spokesman Tsai Feng-fu (蔡豐富) said that if service is extended by 20 years, the three plants could generate 40 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, or 800 billion kWh in 20 years.
If other energy resources are used to generate electricity, such as coal or natural gas, the cost could be NT$1.6 trillion, he said.
Tsai said that with thermal power plants heading for decommissioning in the coming years, there is a risk of power shortages by 2016, of which northern Taiwan would bear the brunt.
He said that if the fourth plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City, is not brought online, other energy resources will need to be found to fill the gap, and extending the service of the three existing plants is one option.
He said that the two units of the fourth plant could generate about 19.3 billion kWh per year, while the electricity generated by the Jinshan, Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants is 9 billion kWh, 16 billion kWh and 15 billion kWh respectively.
Considering that northern Taiwan is more likely to face electricity shortages, priority will be given to extending the service of the Jinshan and Guosheng plants, both of which are in New Taipei City, but the decision will ultimately be based on government policy, he said.
According to the Atomic Energy Council Web site, the two units of the Jinshan plant in Shihmen District (石門) will expire in 2018 and 2019 respectively, while the two units in the Guosheng plant in Wanli District (萬里) will expire in 2021 and 2023, and the two in the Ma-anshan plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County, in 2024 and 2025.
Applications to extend service need to be submitted five years before a plant’s expiration date.
The extension service application for the Jinshan plant was submitted before the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in the wake of the March 11, 2011, earthquake in Japan.
Meanwhile, Taipower estimated that despite electricity rate hikes in October last year, the company’s losses this year will amount to nearly NT$10 billion.
As of the end of last month, the company had accumulated losses of NT$209.4 billion.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS