Air pollution has come the forefront of the public attention in Taiwan in the recent years. The government-run utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) has tried to mitigate the problem by temporarily lowering electricity output from the island’s coal-fired power plants. However, the effectiveness of this measure appears to have reached a limit lately because of the deteriorating air quality in southern Taiwan.
On 22 January, Taipower released a statement on its website explaining that in the past four days (18-21 January) the company had repeatedly instructed its coal-fired Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung City to lower electricity output. The instruction, which was issued 11 times during the four-day period, resulted in the cumulative reduction of 60.23 gigawatt hours of electricity supply. Taipower furthermore asserted that it has been doing everything it can to bring relief to the worsening air quality in the south, contrary to the view of local environment groups.
Because Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) once more issued smog warnings for the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area on 22 January, Taipower via the same press release announced that the island’s coal-fired generation capacity was to be cut by 900 megawatts. This technically would reduce the generation capacity of Hsinta by more than 40%. Taipower said that it will continue to cooperate with the public to help reduce air pollution, provided that the utility can maintain grid stability at the same time.
Local environment groups, which have long criticized the government’s handling of the severe air pollution in southern Taiwan, claimed that Taipower did not significantly curtail coal-fired electricity generation even when smog alerts were issued. Taipower’s press release not only refutes this charge but also explains its actions during 18-21 January. According to Taipower, Hsinta Power Plant had been instructed 11 times to lower its output over the four-day period. The cumulative amount of reduction in electricity supply came to 60.23 gigawatt hours.
Taipower’s press release furthermore points out that the company again carried out a three-phase reduction of coal-fired electricity output on 22 January in response to EPA’s smog warnings. Taipower believes that all the measures up to the date of its press release represented the company’s best efforts in fighting air pollution while ensuring steady electricity supply across the island.
The Hsinta Power Plant is the second largest coal-fired power station in Taiwan and has an installed capacity of around 2,100 megawatts. Based on Taipower’s calculation, the total reduction of coal-fired generation capacity on January 22 came to 900 megawatts. This amount would represent more than 40% of Hsinta’s capacity.
Local environment groups had offered a breakdown of the island’s electricity generation for 21 January (as of 2 p.m. in the afternoon). Their analysis showed that 40% of the island’s electricity generation came from southern Taiwan. In their view, Hsinta was still responsible for much of this 40%. On the other side, Taipower with its data asserted that Hsinta accounted for just 5.4% of the island’s electricity generation on 21 January. Taipower also noted that privately owned gas-fired power stations and Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant contribute to the generation in the south. Hsinta therefore simply could not represent the entire 40% of the island’s electricity generation. Taipower in its press release said that the company shares the concerns of the environmental groups on air quality but disputes their view on this particular issue.
Taipower pointed out the repeated instructions to lower Hsinta’s output from 18 to 21 January already demonstrated that it is working hard to find the balance between meeting electricity needs of the public and protecting the environment. Southern Taiwan was blanketed by heavy smog in those four days, and Taipower attempted bring relief every day during that time. The largest daily reduction of coal-fired generation capacity in the four-day period came to 890 megawatts, and the cumulative reduction of coal-fired electricity supply reached 60.23 gigawatt hours.
The EPA again issued warnings on air pollution in the south on 22 January, compelling Taipower to announce further actions to curb coal-fired generation. The monitoring stations in nine of the districts within the Kaohsiung metro area – Daliao, Linyuan, Nanzi, Qianjin, Qianzhen, Xiaogang, Pingtung County, Chaozhou Township, and Fuxing – all flashed red alerts on air quality. With more than one-third of the 16 monitoring stations in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area sounding alarms, Taipower carried out a three-phase plan to reduce output from coal-fired power stations (0-7 a.m., 7-9:30 a.m., and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
The first two phases reduced the coal-fired generation capacity by 700 megawatts, resulting in a cut of 6.65 gigawatt hours in electricity supply. Taipower projected that all three phases would lower generation capacity by a total of 900 megawatts. Since Hsinta Power Plant has an installed capacity of around 2,100 megawatts, the three-phase reduction would represent about 43% of that total.
Taipower through its press release also introduced a new information page on its website for giving details on the company’s progress in improving air quality. This page contains three subsections – descriptions of the company’s clean air projects, explanations on technical terms such as Air Quality Index (AQI), and records on the reductions of electricity output. The last section includes real-time information and historical data on power plants that are participating in reducing output. The public will be able to know when and how many times a power plant has cut its output plus the reduced amounts. By providing these data, Taipower hopes that the public will see that the company is transparent in its actions and is just as attentive to the issue of air pollution as they are.
(This article is based on available information provided by the Chinese language website of Taiwan Power Co. The image at the top of article is intended to serve as an example of air pollution. Credit of the image goes to Pixabay.)