Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) yesterday agreed to remove more than 800 transformer boxes from the streets of Taipei as well as adhere to other demands made by the Taipei City Government in return for the city’s support for the construction of four new substations.
The construction of the four substations, in Guting (古亭), Daan (大安), Songhu (松湖) and Yucheng (玉成), have all been delayed because of resistance from nearby residents.
Representatives from Taipower visited Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday to request city government assistance in facilitating the construction of the substations.
Hau thanked Taipower for providing electricity to the city and offered the city government’s support for the company’s plans to continue providing sufficient electricity while ensuring the safety of residents. However, no practical solutions to the controversial construction of substations were offered during the meeting.
Chen Yung-ren (陳永仁), vice secretariat of the city government, said the city expected Taipower to put greater efforts into meeting local residents and seeking their consensus before proceeding with the construction work.
In addition to putting the transformer boxes underground, the company also agreed to join efforts with the city government’s energy-saving team and refrain from unannounced road construction.
Taipower spokeswoman Tu Yueh-yuan (杜悅元) said the company needs to build the Songhu substation in Neihu first to meet the growing electricity demand in the area.
The supply of electricity in Neihu and Nangang currently relies on a substation in Sijhih (汐止), Tu said.
Residents in Neihu may experience restrictions in electricity supply if Taipower fails to build the Songhu substation soon, she said.
“Taipei City consumes a great amount of electricity, but there are no substations in the city. We need to build substations in the city to provide sufficient electricity,” she said yesterday after a closed-door meeting at Taipei City Hall.
Tu said both the Guting and Daan substations would be built underground to prevent them from affecting the city landscape.
The construction of the Yucheng substation was mapped out to meet the demands of the Nangang Economic Trade Park and urban planning projects in the district.
Tu said the company would hold more public hearings in order to seek consensus from residents and discuss the issue with the city government.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost