Military manufacturing schedules remain on-time, while renewable energy generation is stable and looking to expand, an Executive Yuan report on government policy and achievements to the Legislative Yuan’s new session showed yesterday.
The Ministry of National Defense as of the end of last year had delivered 27 of the 66 Brave Eagle, or Yung Ying (勇鷹), Advanced Jet Trainers it has ordered, the report said.
The defense ministry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs had selected eight companies to produce 36 commercial-grade uncrewed aerial vehicles of five different types for military use, which are expected to be delivered starting this year to 2028, the report said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The military is awaiting delivery of the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, submarine; anti-air and anti-submarine variants of guided-missile frigates; and an auxiliary rescue and salvage ship that was launched for trials on March 27 last year, following its acquisition of the Yushan (玉山) amphibious transport ship, which was delivered to the navy on June 19 last year, it said.
The defense ministry last year obtained 293 technologies, facilities or products to ensure that its maintenance capability can keep up with its new acquisitions, the report said.
It had listed 700 defense-related restricted products and is encouraging domestic manufacturers to shift track to join the domestic national defense supply chain, it added.
The ministry would arrange meetings to attract potential suppliers to enhance the national defense industry’s autonomy, it said.
The report also touched on electricity supply issues, saying that power generation this year is expected to be stable, while policies are being deployed to expand renewable power storage to 29 gigawatts (GW) by next year.
National power density rose to 6.14 percent in the third quarter of last year compared with the same period in 2022, it said.
The inclusion of new natural-gas boilers to the national grid, new pricing and continued growth of renewable energy sources had increased power reserves from a 2015 nadir of 1.64 percent back to a stable reserve of 6 to 10 percent last year, the report said.
As new natural-gas boiler units are expected to be completed this year, power generation is expected to be stable, it added.
As of November last year, renewable energy storage capacity nationwide was 17.51GW, with solar comprising 12.01GW and wind contributing 2.67GW, the report said.
As of December last year, the National Renewable Energy Certification Center had issued 3.51 million National Renewable Energy Certificates (T-REC), equivalent to 35.19 billion kilowatt-hours (kWH), while the center had registered the use of 30.5 billion certificates, or about 31.86 billion kilowatt-hours, it said.
Each T-REC represents 1kWh of renewable energy. Companies can use the certificates to “buy” renewable energy from power generators.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue