Opposition Proposes Early Retirement of Coal Units
KMT legislators and the TPP caucus proposed on the 10th to amend Articles 28 and 30 of the Air Pollution Control Act to set an early retirement schedule for coal-fired units, under which all coal-fired units at the Taichung Power Plant would retire in 2028, and retired coal units would be restricted from serving as emergency backup. The Energy Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs said plant retirements already follow a set schedule, and rashly advancing them would severely impact supply stability, driving reserve power into negative territory.
Annual Cut of 58 Billion kWh, Reserve Margin Turns Negative
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that to meet growing power demand from AI and semiconductor industries, the government has fully planned the timing of new unit additions and retirements, and forcing early retirement of coal units would affect supply. If the Taichung, Heping, Linkou and Dalin plants totaling 9.72GW are forced into early retirement, the reserve margin in 2028 and 2029 is projected to plunge into negative territory, with annual generation falling by about 58 billion kWh, exceeding the 51 billion kWh of actual household electricity consumption nationwide in 2025, a huge impact.
Central Taiwan Science Park and North-East Grid Hit First
The Ministry said if existing coal units are forcibly retired before the second-phase gas units at the Taichung Power Plant come online, regional supply will be affected, and future new industrial power demand at the Taichung Science Park could face difficulties. If the Heping Plant is retired early, the supply gap in the north-east region would reach 4.7GW, exceeding the 4.2GW interconnection limit of the north-west grid and raising supply risks for Taipei City, Keelung City, Yilan County and areas of New Taipei City east of Banqiao.
Permit Reviews and Staffing Flexibility Raise Concerns
The Ministry said retaining retired units without demolition for emergency use helps maintain power system dispatch flexibility and national security response capacity. Internationally, Japan includes eligible existing thermal units in backup capacity, and South Korea has also delayed retirement of some coal plants, balancing pollution reduction with energy resilience. Under the draft, if local governments fail to complete plant permit renewal reviews within 4 months, plants would immediately cease operation, constraining supply dispatch flexibility and increasing risks of industrial supply-chain disruption, affecting corporate investment confidence and expansion willingness.
Taipower Union Backlash, Does Not Rule Out Besieging Legislature
The Taipower union said in a statement that forcing a full retirement of coal units at the Taichung Power Plant would force more than a thousand Taichung Power Plant employees to relocate from Taichung, and did not rule out protests and besieging the Legislative Yuan. The union said areas from central to northern Taiwan would become highly dependent on cross-regional support from southern power, estimating that southern power transmitted to central Taiwan would surge to 6.12 million kW, seriously exceeding the 4.5 million kW capacity limit of the transmission network, and that in an accident central Taiwan could face voltage collapse and a large-scale power rationing crisis.