Government efforts to prevent large-scale power outages, such as the one that affected the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France on Monday, would focus on redundant energy provision, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) said that the blackout reminded her of the five major power outages during the term of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), three of which affected millions of people.
Three of the outages occurred in 2017, one on May 13, 2021, and another on March 3, 2022, which affected 8.38 million, 10 million and 5.5 million residents respectively.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Weng said Taiwan has insufficient power, and energy stability is easily disrupted by earthquakes and when relay stations trip, to say nothing of what would happen if the nation were hit by a terrorist attack or embroiled in war.
Power instability results in the paralysis of telecom base stations, which would freeze mobile networks, she said.
Weng asked whether the government was prepared for that contingency and what policies are being discussed or are in place to help the public in such a situation.
President William Lai’s (賴清德) emphasis on whole-of-society resilience should mean that the government is prepared for such events, she added.
Cho said power outages under Tsai’s administration were primarily due to mechanical errors or mishandling by personnel.
The government is preparing for a redundancy in power provision in response to possible power outages due to natural disasters or human error, Cho said.
The information security strategy released by the National Security Council last month also prioritizes critical infrastructure security, including water, electricity, communications, transportation, finance and healthcare systems, he said.
It calls for comprehensive assessments of potential information security risks and countermeasures to protect critical infrastructure, he added.
Weng also asked about the progress of the Ministry of Digital Affairs’ 2023 Forward-looking Project to use Emerging Technologies to Strengthen Communication Networks’ Digital Resilience.
The project, which is estimated to cost NT$550 million (US$17.71 million), aims to build 773 non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) ground stations, 70 satellite base stations within the nation, and three NGSOs abroad.
Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) said that the 773 stations were completed last year.
However, only about 170 stations are operational, given funding issues, he said.
Huang said that the stations were off-limits to civilians, as they are meant to provide the government access to networks that would ensure the smooth running of the government during a war or national disaster.
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