The temperature has been soaring around Taiwan as the summer rolls on, thereby raising the electricity consumption of the whole island to record levels. According to data released by the government-run utility Taipower, this July produced seven days that occupy seven places in the top 10 ranking of dates by the daily peak demand for power in Taiwan. Five of them are actually in the first five places of the ranking. However, Taipower has been reassuring the public that there will be sufficient supply to meet the demand of this summer. This guarantee is backed by not just the Taichung Power Plant that is running at nearly full capacity but also local photovoltaic generation that has an increasingly important role during the daily peak-load period.
New highs in temperature have been set across cities and counties of Taiwan. The weather data compiled by Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau over the last 24 days show that Taipei experienced 17 consecutive days of temperatures rising above 36 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous record period of 16 days from this June 15 to 30 and the record before that from August 5 to 20, 2017. The weather stations around Taipei again posted a new record high of 39.7 degrees Celsius on July 24. The next day saw the temperature in Taitung hit 40.2 degrees Celsius, which is the highest ever for the whole island. It is also worth pointing out that Taitung has now reached this historical high twice as the temperature there climbed to the same level 16 years ago.
The sweltering heat has also caused Taiwan’s electricity consumption to surge recently. Earlier, Taipower estimated that the daily peak of the island’s consumption will reach a maximum of 37.91 gigawatts for this summer. However, that projection has been surpassed at 1:50 p.m. on July 23, when the total load of the island climbed to a new record high of 38.02 gigawatts. This demand figure is also much greater compared with the daily peak of 36.453 gigawatts for August 15 of 2017, when the last serious blackout occurred on the island. As the following table (in Chinese) indicates, the top five figures of daily peak consumption in Taiwan were all recorded this July.
Taiwan is obviously not immune to extreme weather conditions brought about by global warming, and the repatriation of capital in the recent years has also raised electricity demand from domestic industries. The grid system of the island is thus under strain due to the increase in consumption among all types of end-users. Nonetheless, Taipower has managed to keep the operating reserve of the island’s total generation capacity at a healthy level. The margin is now higher than before, and the utility’s five-color warning system for the state of electricity supply has been indicating green for quite a while.
The stability of Taiwan’s grid system during this summer can be attributed to two factors. First, local photovoltaic generation has benefitted from the sunny weather and is taking a significant part in electricity production. Second, the Taichung Power Plant is again operating at almost full capacity following the reactivation of its first and second coal-fired generation units (a.k.a., the No. 1 Coal Unit and the No. 2 Coal Unit).
Several coal-fired generation units in the Taichung Power Plant were originally suspended in order to improve the air quality of surrounding areas. However, the No. 2 Coal Unit came online on June 24 despite some local opposition because Taipower was preparing for the arrival of the peak-demand season after the Dragon Boat Festival. Later, as both temperatures and electricity consumption began to shoot up, the utility had to consider other issues that could threaten the overall electricity supply. These include unexpected emergencies and the scheduled summer maintenance of a few gas-fired generation units. Hence, the decision was made to end the maintenance of the No. 1 Coal Unit earlier than planned and return it to normal operation. It was reactivated late at night on July 14 and reconnected to the grid in the morning of the next day.
By ramping up the Taichung Power Plant, the reserve margin of Taiwan’s total generation capacity is kept at the “green” level of around 10%. The island’s grid system therefore has the flexibility for dispatching generation resources and dealing with urgent demand.
Thanks to the bright sun and relatively clear sky, the power output from photovoltaic systems in Taiwan has grown dramatically this summer. The total photovoltaic generation of the island during the midday period has surpassed 2.4 gigawatts recently when the weather is sunny and clear. Currently, photovoltaics accounts for about 6% of the island’s overall electricity production. In comparison, the total photovoltaic generation of the island reached highs of 1.8 gigawatts and 1.1 gigawatts on July 17 of 2019 and in early August of 2018 respectively. Hence, photovoltaics is seeing a substantial growth in installations and has become a major contributor to electricity supply in the summer months.
As of the end of this June, Taiwan’s installed photovoltaic capacity came to almost 4.8 gigawatts. A total of 6.5 gigawatts is expected by the end of 2020 if there are no complications in achieving the government’s solar target.
(News source: TechNews. Photo credit: Pixabay.)