Wanhua Power Outage Affects over 4,000 Households 萬華環河南路一帶昨晚停電 影響4千多戶

New electricity usage records have been set recently due to the stifling hot weather. Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua says the current period is the time of year with the highest electricity usage. Moreover, private cogeneration businesses are reducing their electricity generation and buying Taipower's electricity due to high international fuel prices.

The street is pitch black. At around 11 p.m. on July 25, the power went out without warning on Section 2 of Huanhe South Road in Taipei's Wanhua District. Although Taipower immediately started repairs, some 4,000 households were affected.

Wang Mei-hua, Economic Affairs Minister: “The power outage last night in Wanhua was caused by a malfunction with a high voltage transformer. Taipower conducted repairs as quickly as it could, and was able to restore power to over 1,000 households within two minutes. This equipment had to be replaced, and that was completed before 1 a.m.”

Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua said the numerous power outages that have plagued all areas of Taiwan in recent weeks can be divided into three categories. They are electrical failures, animal interference, and external interference. She added that Taipower does its best to rush through repairs as soon as a power outage occurs. Meanwhile, the power supply load during recent daytime hours has been very high. One reason is that temperatures exceed 38 degrees Celsius. Another is the surge in international fuel prices, which has caused private cogeneration businesses to reduce their electricity generation and purchase electricity from Taipower.

Wang Mei-hua, Economic Affairs Minister: “Private cogeneration businesses have reduced their electricity generation, and they're also purchasing Taipower's electricity. This has also caused electricity usage to grow. With regards to this, Taipower is hurriedly revising its contracts with related cogeneration businesses.”

Wang said that although electricity usage has skyrocketed, there is still a sufficient supply for consumption during daytime hours because five million kilowatts can be generated every day through solar power during daytime hours. Adjustments will also be made to the supply for peak nighttime usage hours to ensure a stable supply.

路上一片黑漆漆，25日晚上11點多，台北市萬華環河南路二段一帶無預警停電，雖然台電獲報後立刻進行搶修，但還是有4000多戶居民受到影響。

經濟部長王美花說明：「萬華停電昨天晚上是高壓變電器有故障，台電最快的速度來修復，他在2分鐘內就修復了1千多戶，因為這個設備要更換，所以在1點以前就完成了。」

王美花表示，最近相關地方的停電可分為3種類型，包括電氣故障、動物干擾，有時是遇上外力撞擊等事故，一旦發生停電，台電都很努力修復。另外，這幾天白天供電負載相當高，除了氣溫飆到38度是一年當中用電量最高的期間，國際燃料價格高漲，也讓民間汽電共生選擇少發電轉而向台電購買電力。

經濟部長王美花指出：「民間的汽電共生少發了還要來購買台電的電力，所以也讓這樣的一個用電有多的成長，這個部分台電也在跟相關的汽電共生業者，趕快把相關的契約做調整。」

不過王美花也強調，雖然近期用電量大增，但白天的太陽光電有可以發到500萬瓩這麼多，所以白天的用電量還是足夠沒有問題，也會對夜間尖峰時段供電做好相關的調度，包括需量反應、水力機組救援等，都會審慎調配，供電沒有問題。