New highs in temperature have been reported across cities and counties of Taiwan during this month of July. The temperature in Nantou County soared to 39 degrees Celsius on July 12, and the temperature in Taipei also set a new record high of 38.9 degrees Celsius for the month on July 13. The latest summer heatwave is also causing electricity consumption to surge. According to data from Taipower, the entire electricity load of the island came to 37.528 gigawatts at 2:04 p.m. on July 13. This figure represents a new historic high, said the public utility.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau has already issued heat warnings for many areas. The weather on the island will remain sunny and scorching as long as the high pressure system of the Pacific is hanging around and dry winds continue to blow from the southwest. The bureau has also issued a red alert for the mountainous region and river valleys of Nantou and the metropolitan area of Taipei. Under the advisory scheme of the bureau, a red alert indicates that the daily high could be in the high 30s for three consecutive days. Weather stations in Taipei could record the same or even higher temperatures at noon today (July 14) when compared with yesterday (July 13). In addition to a new temperature record, Taipei also saw its UV index rise to a dangerous level of 11 yesterday. The temperature profile of the city has also been showing red all over during this week.
The temperature in Taipei set a new record for July on Monday (July 13).
Given that electricity use rises with the temperature, Taiwan’s entire load peaked at 2:04 p.m. yesterday at 37.528 gigawatts. Taipower noted that the island’s consumption this July 13 was not only the highest so far for 2020 but also broke the overall record. The previous historic high was 37.383 gigawatts on July 17, 2019.
Taiwan’s electricity consumption also reached a new record high on the same date.
On the other hand, the recent condition of the bright sun and clear sky has boosted the generation of rooftop and ground-mounted photovoltaic systems installed across Taiwan. Taipower stated that solar photovoltaics currently accounts for about 6% or 2.4 gigawatts of Taiwan’s total power generation during the peak-load period from midday to afternoon. In comparison, solar photovoltaics contributed around 1.8 gigawatts on July 17 last year. Hence, photovoltaic generation in Taiwan has risen significantly and is playing a vital role in meeting the electricity demand of the summer months.
Taiwan’s operating reserve margin on July 13 was 10.59%, which translates to a reserve capacity of around 3.974 gigawatts. Based on Taipower’s warning scheme for electricity supply, a reserve margin that is above 10% is at a healthy level as denoted by a green signal. Anticipating that the island’s consumption could continue to break records this week, Taipower is putting as many generation units as it can into operation.
This also means that the Taichung Power Plant, which is one of the world’s largest coal-fired plant, could be pushed into running at almost full capacity despite concerns about air pollution. Taipower has promised that even if there is no pollution warning, no more than nine of the plant’s generation units will be in operation during summer. However, the utility is not ruling out the possibility that the first and oldest generation unit could go online when needed. All in all, Taipower’s priority is to maintain an ample and stable supply of electricity so that the island’s grid will not buckle under the peak demand of the summer season.
From a wider perspective, 2020 now ranks fifth in terms of Taiwan’s annual electricity consumption. However, this year could still climb higher in the ranking. Taipower has pointed out that the first and third generation units of the Taichung Power Plant are currently under maintenance while the remaining generation units are working. Whether the plant will ramp up to full capacity depends on the forecasts and actual measurements of the air quality by Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration. Right now, the air quality index is showing a healthy green for most places on the island.
(News source: TechNews. Credit for the photo at the top of the article: Taipower.)