Defense News

News reference materials for the MND press conference on the 3^rd week of April

Time: April 18, 2023 at 10:00

I Theme of the press conference: Development and application of military motorized energy storage equipment.

II Moderator: Major General Sun Li-fang, Military spokesperson of the MND.

III Other personnel: Mr. Ren Guo-guang, Deputy Director of the Missile Institute of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST).

IV Participants:

1. Mr. You Guo-hui, Director of the Power Storage Project of the NCSIST.
2. Mr. Luo Yi-chong, Vice President of the NCSIST.
3. Mr. Bo Hui-yun, Director of the General Military and Civilian Center of the NCSIST.
4. Mr. Jiang Fu-er, Director of the Security Office of the NCSIST.
5. Major General Ye Rui-lin, Director of the Financial Resources Division of the Resources Department.
6. Colonel Sun Jin-de, Director of the Personnel Preparation and Readiness Division of the Deputy Office of the Chief of General Staff (CGF).

V Press conference news reference materials:

1. Reasons for the research and development of military motorized energy storage equipment:

Taiwan is short on self-produced energy; 98% of its energy supply depends on imports. Moreover, Taiwan suffered severe damage from Typhoon Morakot, which led to the interruption of external power and communication in mountainous areas, isolating tribes in these areas from the rest of the world. The cause of the issue has been found to centralized power generation and south-to-north power transmission. As such, distributed backup power and energy storage technology have received more and more attention, and the NCSIST has undergone research and development of national defense technology and energy to work with the government and guide the needs of industry, integrating key technologies such as green energy, energy saving, and energy storage to convert power and energy management technology for research and development, and persistently expanding into practical applications and energy solutions for the general public and military use.

Currents sources of electricity in important areas within our country mainly depend on the supply from Taiwan Power Corporation (abbreviated as Taipower). However, if the power supply from Taipower is interrupted, the operation of various units of our Armed Forces in blackout areas will be seriously affected. Hence, a renewable energy power supply system and energy storage micro-grid has become an important development in building a reliable and independent power source for the Armed Forces. Besides, the dependence of various military services on electricity has gradually increased in the process of military modernization of the Armed Forces so in the event of a power cut, military combat readiness radars, communication and information systems, and other areas will be paralyzed. To prevent military power grids and important military combat readiness facilities from being compromised during floods and typhoons, many other countries have developed technology to hack the central power grid, and even adopted military motorized energy storage equipment and energy storage micro-grids to preserve the combat power of the Armed Forces.

2.Existing achievements:

(1) In 2012, a 100kWh power storage system was demonstrated operating at Jin Shui Elementary School in Kinmen, and it was connected to the grid at a single point.

(2) From 2014 to 2015, 30 community-based renewable energy and power storage systems were established at Dongkeng Community, Kinmen.

(3) In 2016, a community-based power storage system was developed at Sunshine Xiaolin Village, Shanlin District, Kaohsiung City.

(4) In 2017, a power storage system was built at the W48 Hall of the NCSIST.

(5) In 2017, power was supplied to the low-carbon education hall of Kinmen Environmental Protection Park with surplus power from energy storage.

(6) In 2018, a power storage system was built at the 235 Green Energy Living Hall of the Chiayi County Government.

(7) In 2019, a project was commissioned by the Resource Planning Department of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to compose a feasibility study report on the use of green energy in military facilities and equipment of the Armed Forces. The report refers to planning and construction cases of foreign military facilities and equipment that uses green energy, analyzed the domestic environment, and proposed a timeline and benefits of using green energy and energy storage in military facilities and equipment in the Armed Forces. As indicated in the report, it is possible based on the needs of each military camp to plan and build renewable energy sources combined with power storage systems to provide the power required to operate important facilities for camps for 7-14 days when the main grid failed to supply power.

3. Expected results:

     The development and application of military motorized energy storage equipment can ensure the normal operation of wartime command posts, command control, communications, and weapon systems when Taipower's supply is interrupted and diesel power has been exhausted. In the future, the NCSIST can work with the industry to jointly address the needs of the Armed Forces in developing an appropriate green power system to achieve energy saving and carbon reduction, power generation, power storage, power distribution, and combat readiness, and assist domestic industries with technological breakthroughs in related fields. All such measures can help lay down the foundation for sustainable industrial development.

In the future, the Armed Forces will gradually build up the power supply system of each battalion into a micro-grid power system that can operate on its own in isolation to ensure that each battalion can operate independently during wartime when the mains power cuts out, achieving the dual objectives of energy independence and reducing the use of petrochemical energy.