Vice presidential candidates return to energy policy in debate - Focus Taiwan

Vice presidential candidates return to energy policy in debate - Focus Taiwan

ELECTION 2024/Vice presidential candidates return to energy policy in debate

Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) Opposition vice presidential candidates challenged the government's energy policy during Monday's televised debate, while the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) vice presidential candidate questioned their positions on nuclear power.

Energy policy was one of the main topics in Monday's debate that saw the three candidates trade questions and criticisms.

Since taking power in 2016, the DPP government's energy policy has focused on phasing out nuclear power and running an electricity mix of 50 percent natural gas, 30 percent coal and 20 percent renewables by 2025.

Opposition parties have criticized the policy, especially as the rollout of renewables has lagged behind schedule, and argued in favor of maintaining Taiwan's nuclear power generation capabilities.

Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) of the incumbent DPP called into question the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) nuclear energy policy and asked how it could support its claims.

KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) has proposed having nuclear power in the energy mix raised to 18 percent by 2050, and his running mate Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康) has separately endorsed a target of 25 percent, Hsiao said.

She questioned whether more nuclear power plants would have to be built to meet those targets and where the nuclear waste would go.

"The [currently five] DPP-governed cities and counties have all rejected the idea of building new nuclear power plants. Do KMT mayors and magistrates agree to have new nuclear power plants in their cities and counties?" Hsiao asked.

Jaw responded by saying that each of Taiwan's three nuclear power plants that were or remain active could have housed four reactors instead of two and that the currently mothballed No. 4 nuclear power plant was originally designed to house eight reactors, implying no new facilities would have to be built.

The KMT candidate also contended that the residents of Hengchun Township in Pingtung County that live close to the No. 3 nuclear power plant support the plant's continued operation because they can get subsidies without being exposed to health risks since nuclear power is safe.

Jaw was referring to the Hengchun Township head's remarks in August saying that at least 70 percent of the local residents supported the idea of the plant's continued operation.

The two reactors of that plant are scheduled to stop operation in July 2024 and May 2025 when their 40-year operating permits expire.

On the nuclear waste issue, Jaw said Taiwan should follow the U.S. by burying it deep into the ground.

Taiwan's three nuclear power plants that were or remain active accounted for 16-20 percent of Taiwan's electricity from 2000 to 2014 and 11-12 percent from 2016 to 2021 after the first plant was shut down as its permits expired.

Taiwan People's Party (TPP) candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) called the DPP government's "no nuclear homeland" proposal "an ideology" that has forced the acceleration of the development of renewable power installations, which have resulted in corruption and misconduct.

Wu also said that as Taiwan's economy relies heavily on the manufacturing sector, the country has to be realistic in terms of its energy policy.

On renewable energy, the candidates also had a back-and-forth on the progress achieved.

Jaw said the DPP government's pledge of renewables accounting for 20 percent of Taiwan's electricity by 2025 will soon fall short, as it is still below 10 percent.

Hsiao admitted that there had been delays in the rollout of renewable power, but attributed it in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions in the global supply chain in the past few years.

Hsiao also said nuclear power was not seen as renewable power by the international renewable energy community, and as more corporations and their supply chains need green energy, the country's renewable power projects, expected to extend to biomass, geothermal, and hydrogen, should be jointly supported by all parties.

Meanwhile, while Hsiao touted the ruling party's economic performance over the past eight years, Jaw disagreed, citing the service sector, particular tourism, to be in distress.

The KMT candidate said tourism accounts for 11 percent of the world's GDP, and during former president Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) time [from 2008 to 2016], "the number of tourists from the mainland reached 4 million at one point [in 2015]."

He said the loss of Chinese tourists has left local restaurants, hotels and taxi and tour bus drivers out of a job.

Hsiao said that when the KMT was at the helm, "the stock exchange was at 8,100 points and young people's salary was stuck at 22k [NT$22,000 a month]," but today Taiwan's GDP per capita has reached US$33,000, surpassing South Korea, and its exports have grown 70 percent compared to eight years ago.

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