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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Taipower given a week to come up with a power plan
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua speaks at an online news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
OUTAGES: The utility blamed Monday’s rolling blackouts on a surge in power usage, which hit a record for the month of May of 37.44 gigawatts
By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter
State-owned Taiwan Power Co （Taipower, 台電） has one week to come up with a plan to maintain a stable power supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua （王美花） said yesterday, after the nation had two rolling blackouts in five days.
In a national address yesterday morning, President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） described the situation as “hardly acceptable,” and asked the ministry and Taipower to “review our national electricity distribution in the wake of climate change and a booming economy.”
On Monday, power outages affected about 660,000 customers nationwide between 8:50pm and 9:40pm, as Taipower was caught unprepared by the unusually high demand for power this month, Wang said.
Peak usage on Monday was 37.44 gigawatts, a record for the month of May and the sixth-highest on record, she said.
“We are still in the month of May and the temperature is already 38oC,” Wang said. “Added to our booming economy, with factories running 24 hours a day, we produced a new record for power consumption in May.”
Wang said that Taipower had scheduled annual inspections and repairs for many generators this month, not expecting peak demand to arrive so early.
“As power consumption patterns change, we must also change our strategy for scheduling repairs and maintenance,” she said.
“In the short run, we must spread out the repair and maintenance period of our power plants, and in the long run, we need to shore up the grid’s stability and develop new sources of power to enhance long-term energy security,” Wang said.
Taipower chairman Yang Wei-fu （楊偉甫） said all the power plants undergoing maintenance would return to full operations before next month.
“We planned to have them online by the beginning of summer, but the high temperatures began two months early,” Yang said.
Asked if households and businesses can expect more blackouts this summer, Yang said that Taipower would maximize the available capacity and give users as much warning as possible ahead of any blackouts.
He also asked for people’s help in reducing usage.
“We have not reached the peak for the year yet, and given the growth in use, we have to prepare as best as possible,” Yang said. “I ask for businesses and household users to cooperate with us so that we can get through the summer safely.”
Asked about Taiwan’s ongoing drought, Wang said this year’s plum rain season has been disappointing.
“We can expect the plum rain season to probably be on the low side,” she said, “I hope before June arrives, we can find 518,000 tonnes of water through emergency sources to provide stable supply.”
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
