"I'm not pro-nuclear!" Tong Zixian reveals Taiwan's "no nuclear power" premise

Tong Zixian attended TECO Electric's 70th anniversary event today and pointed out in his speech that Taiwan's land area is limited, and the development of onshore wind power and solar energy is restricted by land conditions. If it has a larger land area, it can actively develop photovoltaics and onshore wind power.

[Reporter Fang Wei Grey/Taipei Report] Pegatron (4938) Chairman Tong Zixian once again expressed his views on Taiwan’s energy policy, emphasizing that Taiwan is a small and densely populated country and must consider land conditions, power supply stability and carbon reduction needs, and advocated the joint development of nuclear energy and renewable energy. He bluntly said, "If Taiwan had 10 times the land area, I would not use nuclear power. I would work hard to develop photovoltaic and onshore wind power," highlighting the importance of nuclear energy to Taiwan's energy structure.

Tong Zixian attended TECO Electric's 70th anniversary event today and pointed out in his speech that Taiwan's land area is limited, and the development of onshore wind power and solar energy is restricted by land conditions. If it has a larger land area, it can actively develop photovoltaics and onshore wind power. He also mentioned that the construction and maintenance costs of onshore wind power are lower than those of offshore wind power, but Taiwan does not have the land conditions for large-scale development, so nuclear energy has become an important energy choice.

Tong Zixian said that even at 4 a.m. in Taiwan, electricity consumption is still about 65% of that at 12 noon. Long-term observation is about 68% to 78%. Including the continued production of the semiconductor industry, the operation of transportation and livelihood facilities, stable power is needed. However, solar energy must rely on sunshine, and wind power generation is affected by wind conditions and cannot meet all-weather power demand alone. Therefore, stable baseload power is required.

Regarding the development of nuclear energy, Tong Zixian emphasized that he does not advocate the use of 100% nuclear power. "I also have a washing machine at home, but I don't own a washing machine. It is just a tool." The same is true for nuclear power. Through "nuclear-green coexistence", nuclear energy is used with solar and wind power to jointly meet the needs of power supply and carbon reduction. He believes that nuclear power has the advantages of low carbon emissions, stable power supply, and energy resilience. Especially since Taiwan is highly dependent on energy imports, various power generation methods should be carefully evaluated.

Tong Zixian further mentioned that the proportion of natural gas power generation in Taiwan has exceeded 50%, reaching 51%. However, although natural gas is cleaner than coal, it still produces carbon emissions, and the price is easily affected by international wars and geopolitics. He believes that liquefied natural gas must rely on continuous transportation by ships, and it is difficult to significantly increase the safety stock. For Taiwan, it is a relatively fragile energy structure.

Tong Zixian said that in comparison, one transportation of nuclear fuel can allow nuclear power plants to operate for a long time, which has the advantage of energy security. He also mentioned that Japan has re-emphasized the development of nuclear energy, and many international countries support expanding the scale of nuclear power before 2050 to meet global carbon reduction needs.

Tong Zixian stressed that Taiwan needs clean, stable and affordable electricity. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI), from chip, component, server manufacturing to data center computing, relies on sufficient power support. He believes that in the future, "electricity is national power" and "electricity is computing power." Electricity is also equal to productivity. Taiwan must establish an energy structure that meets its own conditions between environmental sustainability and economic development.