TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei’s Linkou Power Plant Unit 1 is expected to return to service next week following emergency repairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Thursday.
Recent incidents at Hsinta and Linkou power plants damaged three major generators, affecting power supply, per CNA. MOEA Vice Minister Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) said Taipower has completed its review of the Hsinta fire and will submit the report to the Kaohsiung City Government.
The Hsinta fire previously forced its new Unit 2 offline, while Linkou Unit 2 tripped due to a fault. On Tuesday, Linkou Unit 1 suffered a pipe rupture, leaving three major generators out of service and sharply increasing supply pressure.
Lai said the Hsinta review is complete and will be submitted to Kaohsiung City. He added that Linkou Unit 1 has been repaired and is expected to rejoin the grid next week.
He emphasized that Taipower has been actively managing the system, and although not all units are operating at full capacity, there is still spare energy. For example, Thursday night’s projected peak demand is 36 million kilowatts, with about 2.2 million kilowatts of reserve remaining.
Taipower Deputy General Manager Wu Chin-chung (吳進忠) added that recent dispatching has incorporated energy storage systems, emergency backup units, demand response, and virtual power plants (VPPs), and he is confident the reserve margin during the evening peak will remain above 6%.
He also pointed out that Taipower has developed new generation units and storage systems. Currently, energy storage capacity is around 1.6 million kilowatts, with VPPs, a network of decentralized energy resources, contributing another 500,000 kilowatts to enhance dispatch flexibility and overall system resilience.
