Taiwan Power Co. Restores Electricity to 94% of Homes After Typhoon Danas

Record damage from Typhoon Danas challenges restoration efforts, with remaining outages concentrated in remote areas.

Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) has successfully restored electricity to approximately 907,600 households affected by a widespread blackout caused by Typhoon Danas over the past weekend. As of Thursday evening, power has been returned to nearly 94% of the homes that lost electricity.

Typhoon Danas, which made landfall in Chiayi County on Sunday night, resulted in significant infrastructure damage, toppling a total of 2,454 power poles across Taiwan. This led to power outages impacting 964,301 households, according to Taipower's official website.

Taipower highlighted that the sheer volume of damaged power poles, each weighing over one metric ton, presented the most substantial challenge in their efforts to restore power since Monday. The company noted particular difficulties in reaching and repairing lines in remote and mountainous regions.

Despite the significant progress, 56,705 households remained without power as of Thursday evening. Taipower indicated that these remaining outages are primarily located at the extremities of power lines and in elevated, mountainous terrains.

The company explained that restoring power to the final few affected homes can be considerably more complex than addressing widespread outages affecting thousands of customers under normal circumstances. As an illustration, Taipower reported needing to rebuild 20 power poles along a 3-kilometer stretch to re-establish power for just five homes.

To expedite the restoration process, over 90% of Taipower's staff from across Taiwan have been deployed to Chiayi and Tainan, focusing on repairing the main power lines. These critical repairs are anticipated to be completed by Friday.

Taipower's primary objective remains the swift restoration of electricity to residential customers, with ongoing efforts concentrated on fixing the main power infrastructure.

However, the persistent rainfall following Typhoon Danas's departure has continued to impede the ongoing repair work, as reported by Taipower.

In response to the heavy downpours on Thursday, several districts and townships in Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung County in southern Taiwan announced the closure of schools and government offices. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has also issued an extremely heavy rain advisory for these southern cities and counties, as well as for Taitung.

The CWA's advisories, issued on Thursday afternoon, warned of potential rainfall exceeding 100 millimeters within a three-hour period or surpassing 200 mm in a 24-hour span for Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, and Taitung until Friday morning. Additionally, Chiayi was cautioned about heavy rainfall exceeding 40 mm in one hour or over 80 mm in a 24-hour period during the same timeframe.