Premier orders assessment on moving Taiwan power cables underground

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) The government will begin assessing the feasibility of moving Taiwan's power cables underground to better protect them from damage from typhoons and other extreme weather events, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said Saturday.

Speaking in Taitung, Cho said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and state-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) would carry out preliminary planning and assessments related to the issue, in the aftermath of storms that have affected electricity supplies.

Typhoon Podul left more than 300,000 households around Taiwan without electricity earlier this week, while over 1 million households experienced power outages during Typhoon Danas in early July, Cho said.

If all power cables are moved underground, people will no longer face widespread outages during typhoons, and Taipower employees will not have to risk their lives climbing poles in heavy rain, he said.

According to Taipower data, more than 40 percent of the country's power lines, including those on outlying islands, were already underground as of the end of 2023.

The company said in a statement in 2023 that underground cabling had long been part of its development plans, but noted that such projects would be expensive -- estimated at eight to 12 times the cost of overhead lines.

It was unclear why Cho said Taiwan would "begin" to assess the feasibility of moving cables underground when a relatively high percentage are already below the surface, and he did not say if there was a particular group of cables he was referring to.

Cho said preparatory work could take years to complete, but he described the effort as reflecting public expectations.