Page 14 - AsiaElec Week 48 2021

AsiaElec NUCLEAR AsiaElec

Taiwan facing divisive referendum

on nuclear energy

TAIWAN IN a poll causing increasing divisions across while 12.5% of the overall mix was still coming
Taiwan, almost 20mn eligible voters will soon from nuclear and with Taipei’s 23mn people still
be heading to the polls to decide the fate of the heavily dependent on coal and LNG for a fur-
nation’s fourth nuclear power plant (NPP). ther 80% of the country’s energy mix, renewables
Currently mothballed, after construction was were still contributing just 5.8% to the total.
halted in 2014 on the back of on-again, off-again Tsai and her party have also been noticeably
delays largely attributed to political in-fighting tight-lipped in the run-up to the referendum
between the nation’s two main political parties about an earlier 2018 ballot asking voters to over-
in the previous decade, the facility in question is turn legislation passed a year previously aimed at
located in coastal New Taipei City, around 40 km ending all use of nuclear power by 2025.
east of central Taipei. At that time, almost 60% of voters opted to
In its present state, it is said to cost around stick with the nuclear option.
$47mn per year to maintain. A general election in the interim saw the same
The referendum was initially slated for the DPP re-elected for another four years, but with
end of August, until concerns over crowds gath- no indication that the wishes of the 59% voting
ering at polling stations whilst the nation was to maintain nuclear power would be respected.
still rolling out its coronavirus (COVID-19) But just a month ahead of the upcoming pleb-
vaccination programme, saw it pushed back to iscite, Taiwan’s premier, Su Tseng-chang, has said
December 18. that if the majority vote to do so, the facility must
Earlier in the year, President Tsai Ing-wen of be reopened in accordance with relevant laws
the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) related to the referendum results.
attacked plans to activate the power plant, calling His party remains steadfastly opposed to
it ‘no option’ when attending a Taiwanese-Jap- nuclear energy, however.
anese friendship event just days after the 10th In an apparent bid to influence and turn pub-
anniversary memorial services for those killed lic opinion away from moving forward with the
in Japan’s March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. fourth NPP, the past week has seen senior mem-
Tsai, speaking at the event, also referred to bers of the ruling party in the nation’s Control
safety worries and cost concerns over using Yuan, the government’s auditory and investiga-
nuclear power, adding: “(We) will accelerate the tive arm, releasing a report showing Taiwan to
transformation of energy generation, and give be unprepared both in material form and finan-
Taiwan a safe and stable power supply” in a direct cially for a nuclear related accident.
reference to her party’s aims to abolish nuclear The report also claimed that should Taiwan
power altogether. be hit by an earthquake and tsunami comparable
More recently the president has increased to the 2011 disaster in Japan, up to 10mn people
her anti-nuclear rhetoric, highlighting the lack might need to be relocated.
of proper storage facilities in Taiwan for spent As such, if the current government has its way
rods, the proximity to earthquake fault lines, and emerges victorious after the December poll,
and a preference for renewables as leading from 2025, with nuclear phased out completely,
causes behind her opposition to the referendum Taiwan will be reliant on LNG (50%), coal (30%)
proposal. and renewables (20%); numbers that have
Renewable energy, in particular offshore angered more environmentally aware residents.
wind facilities, whilst increasing in size and Taiwan is currently home to three other
scope across Taiwan are often blighted by gov- NPPs: two in the north, also in New Taipei City
ernment red tape and limited infrastructure, in areas near the capital Taipei, and the third in
with the nation’s green aspirations in large part Pingtung County, in the extreme south of the
reliant on overseas firms to run projects. main island.
These hurdles to any meaningful increase in All are on the DPP’s to-do list for eventual
renewable energy capacity mean that in 2020, decommissioning. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 48 01•December•2021