Taiwan Gears Up for Energy Resilience: Power Outage Prevention and Preparedness

Government Outlines Plans to Fortify Power Grid and Mitigate Potential Blackouts

In response to recent large-scale power outages elsewhere, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) addressed the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, outlining Taiwan's strategies to bolster its energy infrastructure and prevent similar disruptions. The focus is on creating redundant energy provisions to safeguard against outages, particularly in light of the recent event that affected the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) raised concerns, drawing attention to past power outages, including those that occurred during former President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) term, some of which impacted millions of residents. Specifically, she highlighted outages in 2017, May 13, 2021, and March 3, 2022, affecting 8.38 million, 10 million, and 5.5 million people, respectively.

Weng emphasized Taiwan's vulnerability to power instability, citing the potential impact of earthquakes, relay station failures, and the more serious threats of terrorist attacks or war. She warned of the cascading effects of power failures, including the paralysis of telecom base stations and the subsequent disruption of mobile networks.

Addressing these concerns, Weng questioned the government's preparedness for such contingencies and inquired about existing and planned policies to support the public during a power outage. She noted that President William Lai’s (賴清德) commitment to "whole-of-society resilience" implies a strong level of governmental preparedness.

Premier Cho Jung-tai clarified that power outages under the previous administration were primarily due to mechanical failures or human error. He affirmed the government's commitment to establishing redundant power provision to counteract potential disruptions caused by natural disasters or human error.

Furthermore, Cho highlighted the National Security Council's recently released information security strategy, which prioritizes the security of critical infrastructure. This includes water, electricity, communications, transportation, finance, and healthcare systems. The strategy includes comprehensive assessments of potential information security risks and related countermeasures designed to protect key infrastructure.

Weng also inquired about the progress of the Ministry of Digital Affairs’ 2023 Forward-looking Project, which leverages Emerging Technologies to Strengthen Communication Networks’ Digital Resilience. The project, with an estimated cost of NT$550 million (US$17.71 million), aims to construct 773 non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) ground stations, 70 satellite base stations domestically, and three NGSOs abroad.

Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) reported the completion of all 773 stations last year. However, only approximately 170 stations are currently operational due to funding constraints. Huang explained that these stations, primarily for governmental use, are designed to provide uninterrupted network access during emergencies such as war or national disasters.