The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a non-binding resolution calling for the phaseout of coal use at the Taichung Power Plant by 2028.
The motion, introduced by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋), Liao Wei-hsiang (廖偉翔), Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張?楷), passed in a vote along party lines, with the opposition dominating the 113-seat legislature.
Plans to build more gas-fired units should allow the Taichung plant to eliminate coal by 2028, they said, adding that the plant uses outdated subcritical coal-fired units, which have the lowest power generation efficiency.
Photo: CNA
The resolution said that two newly added gas-fired units in Phase 1 of the Taichung Power Plant, along with the privately owned Chung Chia gas-fired power plant, are scheduled to begin operations by 2026 and could replace the electricity generated by the plant’s coal-fired units.
Under the government’s 2034 target, 71 percent of coal units would still be operational in 2031, which runs counter to its pledge that “for every new gas-fired unit added, one coal unit will be retired,” the resolution said.
The Taichung Power Plant should be prevented from operating six coal-fired and six gas-fired boilers concurrently, the resolution said.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said the Taichung plant was built by the then-KMT government, with its peak coal consumption coinciding with the tenures of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), and then-Taichung mayors Jason Hu (胡志強) and incumbent Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) — all KMT members.
Since the DPP took over the presidency in 2016, it has reduced coal consumption by 6 million tonnes and air pollution by 77 percent, Wu said.
DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said that the KMT’s and the TPP’s opposition to coal to protect public health is just a show given their advocacy of restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County.
Chuang accused the two parties of “ruthless politicking” with their push for nuclear power and leaving more nuclear waste in Pingtung County.
State-run Taiwan Power Co (台電) issued a statement later yesterday, saying it has set 2034 as the target year to facilitate the phaseout of coal power to avoid jeopardizing the nation’s energy supply.
The company is to decommission two coal-fired boilers at the plant by next year, and progress on plans to end all coal use by 2034 is on track, it said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
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