News
LY passes coal power resolution
By ECCT staff writers
The Legislative Yuan (LY) has passed a resolution proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to decommission Taichung Power Plant’s coal-fired generators by 2035, and to preserve the generators in the event of a national security emergency. The plant is home to Taiwan’s largest source of coal-fired power and has become a contentious issue as local residents and politicians have protested against having to endure the pollution generated by the plant when much of the power is diverted to Northern Taiwan.
According to the original plan, Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) had said that it would decommission the plant’s 10 coal-fired subcritical steam generators by 2046.
The resolution sponsored by the DPP passed with a vote of 68 to zero. The DPP version prevailed over proposals by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Power Party (NPP), which were voted down largely along party lines.
The KMT proposal asked the government to decommission the two coal-fired units before construction of the gas-fired units. The KMT caucus abstained from voting on the DPP plan, on the grounds that it was too slow.
