An unpublished report by state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said that the nation could have a positive electricity reserve margin even without nuclear power plants — an estimate that differs from the previous prediction — which was described as an energy policy U-turn following the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) election victory.
According to a Central News Agency report on Monday, Taipower said it could manage a positive energy reserve margin in the next eight years if the three operating nuclear power plants are decommissioned on schedule and a mothballed plant remains shuttered, which contradicted the company’s energy report last year, which predicted that the reserve margin would be shortfalls of 1.6 percent and 3 percent in 2023 and 2024 in the event of a nuclear power phase-out.
The new estimate was criticized as a U-turn to meet the DPP’s nuclear-free policy — which seeks to eliminate nuclear power generation by 2025 — as the new outlook came just two days after the party clinched a landslide victory in the presidential and legislative elections on Saturday.
Taipower spokesman Hsiao Jin-yi (蕭金益) yesterday confirmed the company’s new estimate without specifying the exact figures of the reserve margin, which he said would be released later.
“The latest correction [of the electricity reserve margin] was not made because of a change in government, but because since last year’s report, the general economic environment and public awareness of energy conservation have changed, while the company has come up with solutions to avoid power shortages,” he said.
The reserve margin went from negative to positive because economic growth has been predicted to slow and energy conservation awareness has been on the rise, so the company adjusted the nation’s power demand downward, Hsiao said.
The development of sources of renewable energy and the expansion and upgrade of facilities at power plants in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港), Miaoli’s Tongsiao Township (通霄) and Taoyuan’s Datan Township (大潭) would boost the reserve margin, he said.
“Taipower would be useless if it had a negative reserve margin and did nothing about it. The adjustment had nothing to do with the elections,” he said.
Although the operating margin went from negative to positive, the risk of power shortages still exists, as the margin remains low, while energy supply would be a pressing issue if nuclear power is phased out, Taipower said.
The three functioning nuclear power plants are to be deactivated in 2019, 2023 and 2025 after each has run for 40 years — the designated service life of each plant, the company said, adding that the three plants generate about 20 percent of the firm’s power.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS