Construction of Maanshan Unit 2 started in February 1979, achieving first criticality on February 1, 1985, and grid connection later that month. Commercial operation began three months later. Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) applied for decommissioning in July 2021, as required by law, three years before halting energy production. Maanshan Unit 1, a 936 MWe PWR, was shut down on July 27, 2024, upon its license expiration.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated: “This year, four large gas-fired units with a capacity of nearly 5 million kilowatts, including Datan, Hsingda, and Taichung power plants, and about 3.5 million kilowatts of wind and photovoltaic power will join the power supply ranks, ensuring that the people have no worries about electricity.” These additions aim to maintain a stable energy supply following the decommissioning of Maanshan Unit 2, which contributed approximately 3% of Taiwan’s electricity.
Taiwan’s energy policy, established in January 2016, targets a nuclear-free energy system by 2025, with reactors decommissioned after their 40-year licenses expire. The policy emphasizes an energy mix of 20% renewables, 50% liquefied natural gas, and 30% coal. While a 2018 referendum led to the removal of a related amendment from the Electricity Industry Act on December 2, 2018, former Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin stated in January 2019: “There would be no extension or restarts of nuclear power plants in Taiwan due to subjective and objective conditions, as well as strong public objection.”
Other nuclear plants have followed a similar path. Chinshan Unit 1 was taken offline in December 2018, and Unit 2 in July 2019. Kuosheng Unit 1 ceased operation in June 2021 due to limited used fuel storage, ahead of its scheduled December 2021 shutdown, while Kuosheng Unit 2 stopped in March 2023. The Lungmen project, with construction starting in 1999, faced delays; Unit 1 was mothballed in July 2015, and Unit 2 construction was halted in April 2014.
