Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/30
By: Milly Lin and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Electricity use Monday hit a record high for this year of 34.081 million
kilowatts (kW), as people turned to their air conditioners for respite from searing temperatures amid a heat wave across the country, according to state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower, 台電).
The system had power reserves of only 920,500kW, equal to a 2.7 percent reserve margin, a new low for this year and close to the power rationing alert level of 900,000kW, according to Taipower data.
The electricity reserve margin was the second-lowest in history, above only the 2.46 percent — equal to power reserves of only 860,000kW– registered July 2 last year, according to the data.
The temperature in Taipei peaked at 35.8 degrees Celsius at 1:07 p.m., the highest in the country, while Banqiao, New Taipei and Keelung recorded 34.8 degrees around noon, according to the Central Weather Bureau. [FULL STORY]