Mingtan Pumped Storage Plant Introduction
The industrialization of electricity - From "white coal" to "gold". Sun Moon Lake is a hub for hydroelectric power generation in Taiwan. Over the past eighty years, Taiwan Power Company has built large power plants including the Daguang, Jugong, Minghu, and Mingtan power plants along with the Shueili Creek, as well as Minghu and Mingtan reservoirs used for pumped-storage hydroelectricity. The high density of power plants and reservoirs near Checheng is rare in the world. Visitors can tour the power plants and reservoirs to experience the transformation from "water to electricity" and learn to cherish resources, fostering a broader vision for sustainable utilization and appreciation of the resources of nature. Sun Moon Lake, located at the geographical center of Taiwan, boasts a prime location and scenic beauty, renowned far and wide. With both conventional and pumped-storage hydroelectric resources, Sun Moon Lake has become a critical site for hydroelectric power in Taiwan, with a total installed capacity of 2,768.3 kW, accounting for 62% of Taiwan's hydroelectric power. It is praised as the best representation of "white coal turned to gold." Today, advocating for energy conservation and carbon reduction as well as renewable energy, Sun Moon Lake is an ideal destination for intellectual tourism. Mingtan Jugong branch (Sun Moon Lake Second Power Plant, Jugong Power Plant) utilizes water released from the Sun Moon Lake First Power Plant, flowing through a 4,409-meter-long water diversion tunnel to combine with Shungwei Creek water, directing it into the Shungwei adjustment pond for storage and generating electricity from a height differential of 123.6 meters, producing 43.5 kW of electricity. This project began construction in December 1935 and was completed in 1937. Originally named Sun Moon Lake Second Power Plant, it was renamed Jugong Power Plant by Madam Chiang Soong Mei-ling in January 1963. In March 1999, it merged with Mingtan Power Plant and is now known as Mingtan Jugong branch. The Mingtan Power Plant (Mingtan pumped-storage power plant) is the second pumped-storage power generation project in the country and is also the largest hydroelectric project in Taiwan's history, using Sun Moon Lake as the upper reservoir and Mingtan Reservoir as the lower reservoir. Construction began in September 1987, and the six units were successively put into operation between 1993 and 1994. Utilizing a height differential of 380 meters to generate power, the six generating units have a total installed capacity of 1,602 kW, making it one of the few giant pumped-storage hydroelectric plants in the world.
