TSMC consumes tens of billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity in Taiwan every year, and Taiwan Power has to solve the power supply problem of 23.419 million Taiwanese, a province with an area of only 36,000 square kilometers, where does their electricity come from?
It stands to reason that Taiwan's power supply pressure is quite large, because TSMC, as the world's top chip manufacturer, is simply a super "electricity-eating monster"! Some people predict that by 2025, TSMC will swallow 12.5% of Taiwan's electricity.
With so many companies alone, what should we do with other factories and the 23.419 million local Taiwanese? Speaking of which, we have to mention the Taiwan Power Company.
Taiwan Power Company, referred to as "Taipower", is Taiwan's "power steward", and is involved in all aspects of thermal power, hydropower, and nuclear power. However, at present, Taiwan's power supply mode is still mainly natural gas and coal power generation.
But almost all of these two resources have to be imported from abroad, and the dependence on natural gas imports has exceeded 99% in 2021 alone!
As for why they are so dependent on foreign resources, it is because the coal mines and natural gas have long been hollowed out.
In addition to natural gas and coal, nuclear power is the third option for Taiwan's power supply. However, since the Fukushima nuclear accident, there has been a lot of talk about "denuclearization", and the government even plans to stop nuclear power by 2025.
Once nuclear power is stopped, Taiwan's power supply will be very tight.
However, I think that Taiwan and the mainland can establish a power network, similar to the connection between the UK and the European continent, through the direct connection of submarine cables, to achieve a win-win situation of power sharing.
From the current point of view, this technology is quite mature, if it can be realized, it will inevitably ensure the long-term stability of Taiwan's electric power!
