Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) yesterday left some leeway on the government’s policy to phase out nuclear power by 2025 following a meeting with seven of the nation’s biggest trade groups.
Industry representatives have voiced concerns about possible energy shortages and businesses’ ability to absorb anticipated energy price hikes that could arise from the government’s planned energy mix, which would rely heavily on natural gas to meet half of total consumption with another 20 percent to be furnished by the nascent renewable energy industry, while the share of coal-fired power generation would be reduced on an annual basis.
The government would take all factors into consideration, Shen said in response to General Chamber of Commerce (全國商業總會) chairman Lai Cheng-i’s (賴正鎰) suggestion that the government keep nuclear power generation in reserve.
The ministry last month said that legal and technical hurdles, and resistance from local governments, have all but made it impossible to activate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) or delay the scheduled decommissioning of other nuclear power plants.
“It is not that the government has ruled out nuclear power, but the obstacles are insurmountable,” Shen later said in a statement.
Lai also voiced concerns about possible geopolitical events that could disrupt Taiwan’s natural gas supply.
Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (工商協進會) chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) expressed disappointment over the government’s inability to carry out last year’s referendum results to scrap the 2025 deadline to phase out nuclear power.
The government’s energy strategy would support local industries while maintaining a reserve power generation margin of 10 percent, Shen said, adding that energy prices would rise at a manageable rate in the absence of nuclear energy.
The government would expand pumped-storage hydroelectricity capacity to address the intermittent and unreliable nature of alternative energy sources, and build infrastructure to ensure that gas-fired power plants have stable fuel supplies, Shen said.
In related news, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) yesterday declined a request by the central government to delay the retirement of an old coal-fired unit at the Taichung Power Plant, and instead decided to keep up to two of its 10 units offline during months with peak air pollution.
The old unit must be permanently retired to achieve the city’s emissions reduction goals, Lu said, adding that the capacity shortfall can be made up by making adjustments at other coal-fired power plants in New Taipei City and Kaohsiung.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS