Insight
Electricity crisis in Taiwan
*Please note that this report only includes an Excel data file if this is indicated in "What's included" below
Report summary
On 15 August 2017, Taiwan experienced a widespread power blackout. The majority of the country, nearly 7 million households, was affected. The blackout was caused by human error stopping gas supplies into the Tatan power plant. The plant, which has a total of 4,384 MW of gas-fired capacity, subsequently went offline completely and backup systems were insufficient to prevent power failures. Although power supply from Tatan was restored around five hours after it tripped, Taiwan is still facing tight power supply and its power system remains vulnerable.
Table of contents
- Key takeaways
- Major blackout highlights system vulnerability
- Electricity capacity has been stretched to the limits
- Artificially low power prices are distorting the market
- Opposition to nuclear is compounding issues
- Power market structure is also to blame
- President Tsai feeling the heat over energy policy
Tables and charts
This report includes the following images and tables:
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Electricity crisis in Taiwan: Image 1Taipower's daily reserve capacity and margin (June-July 2017)Number of days with reserve margin <=6%
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Taiwan monthly power demandTaipower's peak loadTaiwan's nuclear capacityTaipowers' power generation capacity, as of July 2017IPPs' power generation capacity, as of July 2017Cogens' power generation capacity, as of July 2017Taipower's capacity additions by the end of 2017
What's included
This report contains:
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