TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With the end of summertime peak energy consumption, Pingtung’s Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 began regularly scheduled maintenance on Monday (Oct. 21) for 41 days.

With the plant offline, Taiwan’s power grid will reduce its proportion of nuclear power from 3% to zero. Unit 2 at the nuclear power plant is expected to be decommissioned by May 2025, fulfilling former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) pledge of a "nuclear-free homeland” by 2025.

Going nuclear-free is not expected to disrupt the nation’s energy grid, according to Taipower Vice President Tsai Chih-meng (蔡志孟). "The backup capacity rate is about 10%, and the backup capacity for nighttime peaks is also above 7%, so the entire power supply should be safe,” said Tsai.

With nuclear power going offline on Monday, Taipower’s power generation breakdown was as follows: gas (47.382%), coal (25.539%), renewable energy (20.455%), followed by other forms of electricity generation, per PTS.

By 2030, Taiwan's electricity generation mix will comprise approximately 50% gas, 30% renewable energy, and 20% coal. Still, some experts are urging caution in abandoning nuclear. 

"At night, it immediately loses nearly 3% of its backup capacity. This means backup capacity will drop to 5%, which is an orange warning light indicator. Of course, they will be worried about meeting electricity demand after the nuclear power plant stops operating on May 17, 2025," said Yeh Tsung-kuang, (葉宗洸) professor at the Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University.

Other experts issued similar warnings that Taiwan’s transition to non-nuclear next year will need to be carefully managed by relevant government units to ensure that all remaining power-generating facilities can provide a stable power supply for the nation.