No to power Rationing in Taiwan

Taiwan’s electricity reserves have continued to decline recently, with an operating reserve of 4.17% registered at 1:41pm Thursday, the fourth consecutive day when the level fell below the 6% warning line, the state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said.

Electricity use has been high over the past few days as people adjusted the temperature lower on their air conditioners due to a heat wave occurring across the island caused by the periphery of Typhoon Kalmaegi.

The nation’s peak power usage in September occurred at 1:41pm Thursday, reaching 34.31 MW, with the operating reserve pegged at 4.17%, and the reserve margin pegged at 1.43 MW, according to Taipower.

Despite this, Taipower president Chu Wen-chen said that the power supply would be sufficient to meet demand this year as the summer is coming to an end.

Power consumption usually reaches record highs in July and August in Taiwan. A peak level was registered in September only once.

“It’s rare to experience such high temperatures in September,” Chu added.

Chu admitted that the power supply in the nation has been tight as several power generators are scheduled to undergo preventive maintenance shutdown later this month and hot and dry weather has caused an approximately 5% reduction in thermal power generation.

Taipower has no plan to implement electricity rationing at the moment however, Chu said, while urging the public to do what they can to limit power consumption.