Power generation adequate: premier

MA-ANSHAN REACTOR CLOSURE: New power generation units at the Hsinta, Sun Ba and Datan power plants would compensate for the power lost, the premier said

• By Sam Garcia / Staff writer, with CNA

The nation’s power generation is expected to be adequate until 2032, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, seeking to ease public concerns that the closure of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 2 reactor on May 17 would affect energy prices.

Cho spoke to reporters before attending a meeting at the legislature in Taipei, answering questions about whether the decommissioning of the nuclear reactor in Pingtung County, which would reduce the nation’s nuclear power production to zero, would impact residential electricity rates.

One of the plant’s reactors was shut down in late July last year and the last reactor now accounts for just under 3 percent of the nation’s power during peak demand.

Estimates from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Taiwan Power Co show that closing the nuclear reactor would drop the current energy reserve margin from 15 percent to about 12 percent, Cho said.

Based on an assessment of peak energy demand, the reserve margin is expected to remain at about 10 percent during the day and 7 percent at night, which would be within safe limits, he said.

New power generation units at the Hsinta, Sun Ba and Datan power plants would successively come online this year, compensating for the power lost from the decommissioning of the reactor, he added.

The government would continue to advance the second phase of the energy transition plan laid out by President William Lai (賴清德), developing diverse green energy, energy conservation, energy storage and grid resilience solutions, the premier said.

Power generation would be sufficient to meet demand at least until 2032, including for the high-tech and artificial intelligence sectors, Cho said, urging the public to remain at ease.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) previously proposed amendments to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the operating life of nuclear power plants from 40 to 60 years.

Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said that if the bill passes, the ministry would immediately start assessing whether nuclear plants are safe, and would invite international experts to assist.

Existing nuclear power plants and developing nuclear technologies can only proceed if they are safe, there is national consensus and the nuclear waste can be dealt with, Kuo said.

Speaking to reporters before appearing at the legislature, Kuo said that Taiwan’s electricity supply would rely on 84 percent fossil fuels once the last nuclear power reactor is shut down.

Kuo said that “thermal power,” which in Taiwan refers to coal, natural gas and fuel oil, would account for 84 percent of domestic electricity production, but he expects renewables to account for 20 percent by November next year and 30 percent by 2030.

When it assumed power in May 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party decided to phase out nuclear power by this year, while setting a goal of 20 percent renewables in the same year.

That goal now appears unambitious, given that the world on average derived 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources for the first time in 2023.

Fossil fuels last year accounted for 83.2 percent of the nation’s electricity generation (39.3 percent coal and 42.4 percent natural gas), compared with 4.2 percent for nuclear energy, 1.1 percent for pumped storage and 11.6 percent for renewable energy, Energy Administration data showed.

Asked whether the closure of the nuclear plant would aggravate air pollution, Kuo said it would not because the sources of power being used would continue to be renewable energy and natural gas, which he described as a “low-carbon” form of energy.