On Jan. 26, a group of eight legislators from Taichung, Changhua County and Changhua City, led by Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), called for the generating units of the coal-fired Taichung Power Plant, which belongs to Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), to be decommissioned, but not demolished.
They called for all 10 of the plant’s coal-fired units to be decommissioned by 2035, and for four gas-fired units to be built at the plant.
When reporters asked Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to comment, he criticized the proposal, saying that decommissioning the units without demolishing them would be sleight of hand.
Tsai said that the coal-fired units could be kept in reserve in the interest of national security, but Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) insisted that the units must be demolished when they are decommissioned and replaced by gas-fired units.
Germany is a leader in environmental protection as well as an economic power, and it pays serious consideration to problems such as air pollution. Germany’s way of dealing with coal-fired units should therefore be a good example for Taiwan to follow.
According to Kazuo Ishikawa, chief executive officer of Japan’s Institute for Industrial Growth and Social Security Policy, as of 2019, nuclear power was the biggest source of electricity among the 28 member countries of the EU — since reduced to 27 because of Brexit — at 26 percent of total power generation. Gas-fired generation took second place at 22 percent, coal third at 15 percent and wind power fourth at 13 percent, while solar power only accounted for 4.2 percent. Lignite, also known as “brown coal,” accounted for 7.8 percent of the total fuel used in the EU’s coal-fired electricity generation, but Germany used lignite for more than half of its coal-fired power output. So, wealthy and powerful as it is, Germany has not readily abandoned coal-fired electricity generation, and it even uses lignite, which causes worse air pollution.
Out of concern for air pollution, Germany has done its best to reduce coal-fired electricity generation, but it had kept its coal-fired units on standby so that they can be started up at any time to support the overall power supply.
There is no issue of whether the units should be demolished or not. Germany’s electric power companies are privately owned, but the government subsidizes their maintenance costs, which are later recouped from the price of electricity.
Power companies in southern Germany even ask neighboring Austria to support them by supplying coal-fired electricity during the peak winter period, when electricity shortages might occur, and they have signed contracts to cover Austria’s maintenance costs.
As Tsai said, electricity supply must be given all-round consideration that takes national security concerns into account, so there is no sleight of hand involved. When compared with Germany’s approach, the Taichung City Government’s insistence on demolition suggests that political interests are stirring up trouble behind the scenes.
Paul Liu is a retired Taipower engineer.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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