As tens of thousands of people staged marches nationwide to call for an end to nuclear power plants yesterday, the government warned of a power shortage and dismissed the idea of excluding nuclear energy from the nation’s energy portfolio.
The government fully understands the concerns over the use of nuclear energy voiced in the demonstrations and will continue to communicate with the groups on the issues of their concern, but it is necessary to keep nuclear energy as an option in the nation’s energy portfolio to better adapt to energy demands in the future, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Earlier yesterday before the demonstration began, the government warned that the nation could face the possibility of power rationing next year as the margin of reserve electricity continues to fall.
Ministry officials said that electricity rationing is possible, as construction to expand two power plants located in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) and Talin in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) are lagging behind schedule.
As a result of the delays, the expanded capacity of the two power plants is unlikely to begin commercial operations in January and July next year respectively as planned, officials said.
Since the government sealed off the nation’s nearly completed fourth nuclear plant in late April last year, under pressure from opponents of nuclear power, the nation’s electricity reserve margin is expected to fall to below 10 percent next year from 14.7 percent recorded last year.
As the new capacity of the Linkou and Talin electricity plants, which are powered by coal or natural gas, will not become operational as scheduled, the nation’s electricity reserve margin could fall to about 6 percent next year, officials said.
Citing past electricity consumption records, officials said that when the nation’s power reserve margin falls to below 10 percent, consumers are expected to face a power shortage, and when the power reserve margin drops below 7.4 percent, the public could face power rationing.
Officials said the ministry is considering postponing the retirement of a coal-fired power plant, in Miaoli County’s Tongsiao Township (通霄), for one year from November, the current decommissioning schedule.
It said the postponement of the Tongsiao plant’s decommissioning is one of several options the government has available in the case of a power shortage next year.
Among other options, the government is gearing up to raise solar power capacity, while striking more deals to purchase more electricity from privately owned power plants, officials said.
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