The full reactivation of a Hualien County power plant that was shut down due to damage from Typhoon Nesat could be completed today, easing power supply concerns, the Cabinet said yesterday.
A transmission tower in the county’s Dongao (東澳) operated by Ho-Ping Power Co (和平電廠) and owned by Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥) was brought down on July 29 as extreme weather swept the nation, reducing the power supply by 4 percent and putting the nation in the grip of a power shortage crisis.
The tower was reconstructed on Friday and the installation of two sets of overhead power lines was finished on Saturday in the quickest repair of a power line in Taiwanese history, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said, adding that the power plant resumed operations yesterday and would reach full capacity today.
Photo: EPA
“The trial operation of the Ho-Ping Power Plant’s transmission tower and generators is ahead of schedule. It could reach full capacity by Monday [today] if the activation process of the second generator is successful, which could increase the power supply by 1.3 million kilowatts [kW] to ease the power supply shortage,” Premier Lin Chuan (林全) wrote on Facebook yesterday.
“The capacity of Ho-Ping Power Plant could not be added to the power grid since Typhoon Nesat struck and I want to convey my deep appreciation to everyone, from colleagues who were making repairs on the transmission tower under the scorching sun or directing electricity supply, to people who followed the [government’s] energy conservation policy, for their hard work,” Lin wrote.
After the shutdown of the power plant, the government announced emergency energy-saving measures, with government agencies told to turn off air conditioning between 1pm and 3pm daily until Thursday last week.
The power reserve indicator is forecast to turn “green” from “orange” on Saturday and Sunday as the operating reserve is forecast to rise to more than 10 percent of supply, state-run Taiwan Power Co said.
The national power supply indicator signaled a “red alert” for three days last week, after the operating reserve fell to less than 900,000kW.
Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said an extra 200,000kW might come online today, as a new generator at Talin Power Plant in Kaohsiung could raise its generation.
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