If the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant cannot become operational due to public opposition, the operational periods of the three existing plants will have to be extended, which could cost between NT$35 billion and NT$40 billion (US$1.16 billion and US$1.33 billion) to renew equipment, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said.
Company spokesman Tsai Feng-fu (蔡豐富) said that if service is extended by 20 years, the three plants could generate 40 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, or 800 billion kWh in 20 years.
If other energy resources are used to generate electricity, such as coal or natural gas, the cost could be NT$1.6 trillion, he said.
Tsai said that with thermal power plants heading for decommissioning in the coming years, there is a risk of power shortages by 2016, of which northern Taiwan would bear the brunt.
He said that if the fourth plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City, is not brought online, other energy resources will need to be found to fill the gap, and extending the service of the three existing plants is one option.
He said that the two units of the fourth plant could generate about 19.3 billion kWh per year, while the electricity generated by the Jinshan, Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants is 9 billion kWh, 16 billion kWh and 15 billion kWh respectively.
Considering that northern Taiwan is more likely to face electricity shortages, priority will be given to extending the service of the Jinshan and Guosheng plants, both of which are in New Taipei City, but the decision will ultimately be based on government policy, he said.
According to the Atomic Energy Council Web site, the two units of the Jinshan plant in Shihmen District (石門) will expire in 2018 and 2019 respectively, while the two units in the Guosheng plant in Wanli District (萬里) will expire in 2021 and 2023, and the two in the Ma-anshan plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County, in 2024 and 2025.
Applications to extend service need to be submitted five years before a plant’s expiration date.
The extension service application for the Jinshan plant was submitted before the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in the wake of the March 11, 2011, earthquake in Japan.
Meanwhile, Taipower estimated that despite electricity rate hikes in October last year, the company’s losses this year will amount to nearly NT$10 billion.
As of the end of last month, the company had accumulated losses of NT$209.4 billion.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS