CNA file photo

Taipei, May 23 (CNA) The number one generator at the coal-fired Ho Ping Power plant in Hualien County broke down on Wednesday, triggering an orange alert for the national operating power reserve margin, according to Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).

The problem occurred at around 8:00 a.m. and the generator was eventually taken out of the power supply system at 10:53 a.m. to facilitate repairs on its boiler, Cheng Shou-fu (鄭壽福), superintendent of Taipower's central coordination, told CNA.

With the failure of the 648,000 kilowatts generator in Hualien, the national operating reserve margin fell to 4.08 percent, triggering an "orange alert" for the third time in May, Cheng said.

According to Taipower statistics, power consumption hit 34.633 million kilowatts at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday, 0.397 million kilowatts higher than at the same time the previous day. The highest consumption so far this year was 35.061 million kilowatts recorded on May 18.

Taipower officials have warned that power rationing might become necessary if the power consumption continues to rise amid high temperatures.

Under Taipower's five-color electricity supply warning system, a green light means the operating reserve margins are above 10 percent, a yellow light represents power reserves of between 10 percent and 6 percent, while an orange light indicates that the reserves have fallen below 6 percent.

A red alert means that the power reserves have dropped below 900,000 kWs, while a black alert indicates that the reserves have fallen to less than 500,000 kWs and power rationing has become necessary.

(By Liao Yu-yang and Flor Wang)
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