Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Wednesday that the government would do its best to maintain a stable electricity supply, but added that it would not be an easy task due to the goal of reducing the use of nuclear and coal-fired power.
As part of efforts to end the use of nuclear power by 2025, the government has said that the service life of the nation’s three operational nuclear power plants “will definitely not” be extended, Lin said.
The government hopes to gradually reduce the nation’s reliance on nuclear power and has instructed state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to suspend operation of the No. 1 reactor at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) and the No. 2 reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) ahead of the end of their service life, he said.
While the absence of the two reactors has tightened supply, with operating reserve margins dropping to 4 percent to 5 percent this summer, the nation’s electricity supply remains operational, he added.
The No. 1 reactor at Jinshan was scheduled to be decommissioned in December next year, but has not been in use since December 2014, while the No. 2 reactor at Guosheng was scheduled to be decommissioned in March 2023, but has been offline since the middle of last year.
Taipower also faces the challenge of restricting coal-fired power generation to reduce air pollution, Lin said.
The government is working hard to quickly transform the nation’s energy structure, which is a lofty goal, he said, but added: “This does not mean it is not attainable.”
Regarding Tuesday’s power outage, attributed to human error at a natural gas-fired power plant in Taoyuan’s Datan Township (大潭), Lin said that while former minister of economic affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) was not at fault in the incident, Lee had to assume political responsibility.
Lin immediately accepted Lee’s resignation in the wake of the blackout, which affected more than 6 million households in 17 cities and counties.
The government will determine the responsibility of Taipower and state-owned refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan once an investigation establishes the facts, Lin said.
The blackout was caused by a shutdown of all six generators at Datan Natural Gas Power Plant after their supply of natural gas was cut off for two minutes because of a mistake made during maintenance at a nearby CPC metering station, Taipower said.
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