Since 1994, Taipower has participated in World Cleanup Day, initiating a joint beach cleanup effort every year. This year marks Taipower's 31st year organizing such activities. Today (September 13th), 24 Taipower power plants and regional offices mobilized over 5,500 people to simultaneously conduct cleanups at 15 coastal locations across 10 counties and cities around Taiwan. A Taipower representative reported that approximately 5.8 tons of trash were collected during this year's cleanup. That makes for a total of about 175 tons of waste removed over the past 10 years, equivalent to over 9,000 large garbage bags, and reducing carbon emissions by approximately 360 tons.
Taipower held its 2024 Joint Beach Cleanup event today. Chairman Tseng Wen-Sheng called upon the Company's employees to participate in cleanups across 10 counties and cities. This year's main event took place at Tongxiao Beach in Miaoli, the site of the nation's largest and first Sand Sculpture Art Festival. Not far from the festival site is Taipower's Tunghsiao Power Plant, which can supply about 10% of Taiwan's annual electricity demand and is equipped with the nation's most efficient gas-fired combined cycle units. In 2023, the plant generated nearly 26 TWh of electricity, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of over 6 million households. More than 600 people participated in the event, including Tongxiao Township Mayor Chang Ko-Hsin, distinguished guests, teachers and students from Tongxiao Elementary School, local residents, environmental volunteer teams, and Taipower employees.
A Taipower representative pointed out that today's joint beach cleanup coincided with the final day of the held-over Tongxiao Sand-Sculpture Arts Festival. The event featured 15 massive creations by international sand sculpture teams from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. This allowed cleanup participants to enjoy the artwork while cleaning the beach. One of the pieces, titled The Real Superhero, focused on a Taipower worker, going about their daily work atop a utility pole. This year's Taipower beach cleanup theme, Joining Together to Clean for a Sparkling Ocean, was publicized through a beautiful sand sculpture, reducing single-use promotional items created. In addition to the cleanup, Taipower also set up educational booths at the main venue in Tongxiao about environmental awareness, energy conservation, microalgae carbon capture, and fish fry releases. These booths meant that, in addition to contributing to the ocean's well-being, participants also got to gain environmental knowledge and learn how to make their electricity usage more efficient.
A Taipower representative explained that electricity generation is closely tied to the ocean, as power plants require a stable water supply for cooling and are often located along the coast. Therefore, regular cleanups of marine debris, such as ocean trash and driftwood, are necessary to ensure equipment safety and stable power generation. Since Taipower began promoting beach cleanup activities in 1994, this marks the 31st year of these events. Taipower began aligning the activities with the Ministry of Environment's Salute to the Seas: Coastline Cleanup Program in 2019; and since 2004, Taipower has joined the Beach Cleanup initiative. This year, 10 power plants (including Keelung's Hsiehho, Kaohsiung's Hsinta, and Kinmen's Tashan plants) have adopted about 13 kilometers of coastline. In 2017, Taipower was recognized by the Environmental Protection Administration (now the Ministry of Environment) as the "Organization with the Most Beach Cleanup Events", setting an example for corporate social responsibility.
Spokesperson: Vice President Tsai Chih-Meng
Phone: (02) 2366-6271/0958-749-333
Email:
[email protected]Contact Person: Department of Environmental Protection Director Wu Cheng-Hung
Phone: (02) 2366-7200/0927-291-156
Email:
[email protected]