By Natasha Li / Staff reporterState-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday cut power generation by more than half at its coal-fired Singda Power Plant (興達) in Kaohsiung and the Taichung Power Plant, citing environmental concerns, as well as falling electricity consumption during the Lunar New Year holiday. As industrial production and commercial activity across the nation slow to a halt during the long holiday, Taipower said that it would maintain lower power generation from the two plants throughout the period and take advantage of the lower demand to carry out routine inspections. “We already halted two generators at the Singda Power Plant and cut power generation by nearly 60 percent for the remaining two generators at the plant,” a Taipower official surnamed Lin (林) told the Taipei Times by telephone. The Environmental Protection Administration on Monday approved Taipower’s plan to build two new natural gas-fired generators at the plant. Taipower posted pretax losses of NT$14.7 billion (US$489.9 million) for last year, mainly due to unadjusted electricity rates, which remained at about NT$2.62 per kilowatt-hour.
