Source: Republic of China Taiwan
Taipower has an inseparable relationship with the ocean. Since the construction of the No. 1 Nuclear Plant in 1971, Taipower has been engaged in exploration and research of marine ecology. This year (2026), Taipower celebrates its 80th anniversary. Today (May 26), Taipower held a special Ecological Sustainability Press Conference to look back on the Company’s concrete achievements in promoting oceanic survey and ecological conservation. Additionally, a documentary by famous underwater film director Yuan Hsu-Hu was screened for the first time, allowing audiences to peek at the beautiful seabed ecology beneath the power plant facilities through a camera lens.
Today, Taipower held the 2026 Ecological Sustainability Press Conference at the Taipower Building, with the theme Taipower 80: Coexisting with the Ocean. Taipower Chairman Tseng Wen-Sheng presided, inviting distinguished scholars from the domestic marine ecology field, including Academia Sinica Academician Chen-Tung Arthur Chen; National Taiwan Ocean University Honorary Chair Professor Shao Kwang-Tsao; National Sun Yat-sen University Professor Fang Lee-Shing; Former Deputy Minister of the Ocean Affairs Council Huang Hsiang-Wen; National Sun Yat-sen University Professors Sung Ke-Yi, Chen Meng-Hsien, and Liu Li-Lien; National Taiwan Ocean University Professor Hwang Jiang-Shiou; and National Taiwan University Professors Sen Jan and Ko Chia-Ying. Taipower Department of Environmental Protection Director Wu Cheng-Hung also shared Taipower’s philosophy and achievements in marine research.
Taipower Chairman Tseng Wen-Sheng expressed that because Taiwan’s large-scale electric power plants require the application of seawater to conduct heat exchange, they are constructed close to the ocean; at the same time, Taipower gives back to the ocean through concrete actions. Wherever power plants exist, they are accompanied by Taipower marine ecology research projects. Under the long-term supervision of countless scholars, Taipower has engaged in continuous exploration and protection of marine ecology. Taipower has also made its years of accumulated ecological survey data available through open platforms to facilitate cooperation with all sectors of society and teach everyone more about the ocean.
Academia Sinica Academician Chen-Tung Arthur Chen expressed that the representativeness of data is key in marine surveys. The six survey stations outside the No. 3 Nuclear Plant have never changed positions, and have accumulated over 30 years of long-term monitoring data, which even shows the Pacific decadal oscillation. These solid data are trusted not only within scientific circles but also among the general population. Former Deputy Minister of the Ocean Affairs Council Huang Hsiang-Wen expressed congratulations to Taipower for being honored among the first batch of certified marine OECMs, and expressed hope that Taipower’s contributions to ecological conservation will become an industrywide model, inspiring more companies to collectively invest in and peacefully coexist with nature.
A Taipower representative explained that Taiwan’s first large-scale marine ecological research project was launched in 1972, focusing on the marine ecology surrounding the No. 1 Nuclear Plant. Subsequently, Taipower also embraced the same research spirit, progressively expanding its ecological practices to other power generation sites, and engaging in long-term collaboration with scholars and experts professionals. The Company is devoted to constructing power facilities that coexist with ecology, while accumulating precious survey monitoring data and results.
Taking the No. 3 Nuclear Plant as an example, through scientific studies of corals, researchers have discovered a model for the coexistence of corals and power plant operations. Additionally, they have discovered extremely rare heat-resistant corals inside power plant water outlets, which provide new possibilities for coral restoration in the face of global warming. Taipower has also cooperated with the National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium to conduct underwater recording and monitoring of coral spawning in the waters of South Bay. Moreover, the No. 3 Nuclear Plant survey stations have operated continuously for over 30 years, accumulating long-term and stable observation data on the Kuroshio current, which is helpful for understanding changes in ocean currents and fishery distributions. This not only provides an important foundation for marine ecology conservation and research but also benefits local fisheries.
In recent years, Taiwan’s development of offshore wind power and other emerging energy sources has prompted Taipower to active research how to coexist with marine ecology. A Taipower representative pointed out that the underwater foundation of the Taipower Changhua Phase 1 Offshore Wind Power Project already displays the fish-attracting effect of an artificial reef, and has attracting many species of reef fish to nest there. Taipower’s Phase 1 Offshore Wind Power Project has obtained OECMs certification from the Ocean Conservation Administration, making Taipower part of the first batch of state-owned enterprises to receive marine OECMs certification.
In recent years, Taipower has also transformed its long-term accumulation of ecological observations into moving stories through documentary filmmaking, successively releasing the ecological documentaries Taiwan’s “Wild Bird” Power Station, set in the Yongan Wetlands surrounding the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung, and The Great Bat Relocation Project, featuring the Taixi Wind Farm in Yunlin. Today also marked the first public screening of Director Yuan Hsu-Hu’s documentary That is What the Ocean Has Taught Us. Filmed onsite at the Lanyu Storage Site, the seawater intake of the No. 3 Nuclear Plant, the Phase 1 Offshore Wind Farm, and Hsieh-ho Power Plant, the film gives the public an opportunity to see Taipower’s investment in marine ecology conservation, as well as the tangible results.
Spokesperson: Chief Administrator Huang Mei-Lien
Phone: (02) 2366-6271; 0922-696-383
E-mail: u030573@taipower.com.tw
Contact Person: Department of Environmental Protection Director Wu Cheng-Hung
Phone: (02) 2366-7200; 0927-291-156
E-mail: u015279@taipower.com.tw