Taipower in Transformation

These magical installation works have helped Tai­power transform its image. They instantly transformed the headquarters of this company, whose mission is to provide a reliable electricity supply to all of Taiwan but which always appeared to the public as a stereo­typical state-run enterprise, into a scenic spot where citizens visit and check in. The event also opened the curtain on the process of Taipower “emerging from its cocoon.”

For the 70th anniversary of Taipower’s founding, its headquarters building was spruced up through the addition of several large-scale public artworks, garnering much public appreciation. (courtesy of Taipower)

Nuit Blanche

It has been a major challenge to transform the corporate image that citizens held of Taipower for over 60 years. Taipower vice president Hsu Tsao-hua relates the story as follows: Just as Taipower was approaching its 70th anniversary and staff were thinking of ways to make the company more open and accessible, Taipei City was named World Design Capital for 2016, and the city government encouraged everyone to carry out urban beautification projects. Thus it was that Taipower decided to give its corporate headquarters a makeover. As well as opening the main lobby to the public and making it a venue for mini-concerts, they turned the open space between the main building and the auxiliary building into a theater and invited arts groups such as U Theatre to perform there. “We actively dedicated ourselves to art and culture and the preservation of cultural heritage, for which we received an Arts and Business Award from the Ministry of Culture. We were the first state-run enterprise ever to win this award.” Hsu mentions that thanks to this award other state-run enterprises have visited Taipower to learn from them, which has made its staff very proud.

In 2017 Taipei’s second “Nuit Blanche” (an all-night urban arts festival) was held in the Gongguan area, along the stretch of Roosevelt Road between National Taiwan University (NTU) and the Taipei City Hakka Cultural Park. The Taipower headquarters is located along this route, and staff from the city government dropped by to discuss collaboration. “We felt this was a great opportunity to showcase Taipower’s transformation,” says Hsu. As it turned out, during the night of the festival more than 80,000 people flooded into the Taipower building, and the “Electro-Light Circus Party” organized by the company was widely praised.

In 2020, when Taipower was relocating its maintenance center from Taipei’s Nangang District to Tao­yuan’s Guishan District, that year’s Nuit Blanche was held in Nangang. At the invitation of the Taipei City Government, Taipower opened the Nangang facility to the public for the first time. The opening of the site for that one night gave citizens a glimpse of a little-known aspect of Taipower’s operations, thus enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of the company’s mission.

For the “Nuit Blanche” art festivals Taipower has opened its headquarters building and Nangang maintenance facility to the public, highlighting the company’s transformation by organizing arts events that have also given citizens a glimpse of important centers for maintaining the stable supply of electrical power.

Dialogue with the public

Hsu Tsao-hua notes that in the past Taipower was Taiwan’s one and only electric power enterprise, and it always communicated with the public by “announcements.” In 2012, when the prices of both electricity and petroleum products increased, Taipower faced its greatest challenge in terms of public trust. “At that time Hwang Jung-chiou had just taken over as chairman, and in his inaugural address he stated that the company needed to make more information public so that people could better understand Taipower.”

Under Hwang’s leadership, Taipower experimented with various approaches to public dialogue. For example, in one corner of a Taipower site beside Wenzhou Park, near NTU, there is a garlic pear tree (Crateva ­religiosa), now known as the “Taipower spider tree,” which produces beautiful yellow and white blossoms. Ever since it was planted the tree had stood behind the site’s perimeter wall, and was accessible only to company employees. But later, when Taipower implemented a program to create spaces for public art, the company removed the corner section of the wall and put up a metal fence around the tree itself so that local residents could enjoy the beauty of the blossoming tree. “We took down the wall to let local residents into that part of the site, and this attracted many artists to come here and hold activities. The ward chief of Daxue Ward, where the tree is located, has since worked with Taipower to hold annual spider tree arts events to enrich the cultural lives of residents.”

Shortly after Chu Wen-chen succeeded Hwang Jung-chiou as chairman, he received a suggestion from Lin Ping-yen, a retired Taipower staffer, that the company should act to preserve the precious historical information stored in warehouses at its various sites, and Chu went on to launch a cultural heritage preservation program. “Taipower’s history in the electric power industry is a microcosm of Taiwan’s overall economic history, and its importance goes without saying.” Hsu Tsao-hua notes that the work done by Taipower employees in combing through the documentary history and artifacts of the industry, supplemented by an oral history project to enable elders to tell the company’s story, have boosted Tai­power’s internal cohesion.

After making a full inventory of its cultural assets, the company decided to first collect historical information on four main themes: the Zhuzaimen power station in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District, the old east–west power transmission line, and the hydroelectric power systems in the Zhuoshui and Dajia river basins. In 2018 Tai­power held an exhibition on a century of power industry cultural heritage entitled “Power Infrastructure as Landscape.” In 2019 it put on the exhibition “Just Flow,” exploring the history of hydropower in Taiwan, and in 2020 another exhibition, “Light Up,” displayed more than 200 objects of ­historical interest. In 2022, the National Taiwan Museum and Taipower jointly curated a show named “Power Up: The Age of Electricity in Taiwan.” Taipower has also published a number of books, including volumes on hydropower in the Zhuoshui and Dajia river basins and the history of the Zhuzaimen power plant, as well as one entitled Traversing the East–West Power Line: An Inside Look at the Century-Old Path, to enable the public to better appreciate Taipower’s “soft assets.”

The “Just Flow” exhibition used artistic design to illustrate the development of hydroelectric power in Taiwan over the past century, and to showcase Taipower’s role in Taiwan’s modernization.

(courtesy of Taipower)

At the “Light Up” exhibition, Taipower displayed more than 200 objects of historical and cultural interest related to the power industry, including the first electricity meter in all of Taiwan from the era of Japanese rule (1895–1945). The event garnered a lot of attention. (courtesy of Taipower)

More than 40 years ago Taipower employees inadvertently planted a garlic pear tree (Crateva religiosa) on a Taipower site, and it is today the only tree of its genus among the more than 3,000 protected trees in Taipei City. Since Taipower tore down the wall in front of the tree, it has become a scenic spot for the community. (courtesy of Taipower)

Illuminating the 13 Levels

Besides its efforts in preserving cultural history, Tai­power also began to promote the renovation and repurposing of significant historic sites, with a view to making them accessible to the public. Examples include the Zhuzaimen power plant (Taiwan’s first designated industrial heritage site) and the Crown Prince Chalet at Jinguashi in New Taipei City’s Ruifang District (named a municipal historic site by the New Taipei City Government). The site that has drawn the most attention is the “13 Levels,” the multi-tiered site on which stand the ruins of a former copper and gold smelting plant at Shuinandong on the coast below Jinguashi. The smelter was built in the 1930s under Japanese rule and the site was acquired by Taipower in 1987 when it purchased the assets of the Taiwan Metal Mining Corporation. Taipower continued to maintain the site, but local residents hoped for more: They wanted Taipower to revitalize the site in order to help drive local development. As a result, Taipower launched a public art program for the Jinguashi and Shuinandong area, and initiated an illumination project for the site that links up local customs and traditions with the area’s glorious mining past.

To implement the project, Taipower sought out inter­nationally known lighting designer Chou Lien and cutting-­edge artist Joyce Ho. They decided to use lighting with a low color temperature that wouldn’t clash with the surrounding environment to bathe the ruins in warm and gentle light at night. Taipower adopted a completely novel conception of public art to reinterpret this historic site, winning an enthusiastic response from local residents.

The next public art project involved the Jinguashi Shinto Shrine, first built in 1898, which was the third Shinto shrine constructed in Taiwan and is now a New Taipei municipal historic site. Taipower chose to preserve the ruined structure and ensure that the remaining columns do not collapse. Based on historical evidence they planted 100 flowering cherry trees along the path to the shrine and used augmented reality technology to re­create various scenes that had long since disappeared, including a wooden torii, banners, and stone lanterns from the shrine as it looked after it was rebuilt in 1937. Once again, local residents were delighted with the results.

The illumination project for the “13 Levels” smelter site employed soft amber lighting at various levels of intensity, turning the structure into an open-air museum. The photo shows a performance by the drum group U Theatre at the opening ceremony. (courtesy of Taipower)

The exhibition “Power Up: The Age of Electricity in Taiwan” explained how electricity has impacted this land and assisted in Taiwan’s development. It covered the age of electricity from the first electric lamp and the construction of power stations to the spread of the power transmission network and the emergence of the renewable energy sector.

Emphasizing energy education

Hsu Tsao-hua says that Taipower has put in a great deal of effort to engage in dialogue with the public, but ultimately the company’s focus is on its core business of power generation, and therefore it pays special attention to energy education. At present besides the mobile story­telling show “I Love Gaia,” which is performed at kinder­gartens, it has also produced a board game designed around hydroelectric power which enables primary school students to create a hydropower strategy, and stages a national competition every year. There are also camps designed for various age groups, including one for “Little Energy Scholars” and one for an “Energy Leaders’ Summit” which combine interesting curriculums with visits to power plants. Moreover, Taipower offers the “kW Design Award,” which is Taiwan’s only design competition for multimedia advertising and posters on the theme of electric power. This event accepts submissions from students related to the energy ideas of the new generation that these young people want to convey to the general public.

“Through our engagement with the arts and preservation of cultural heritage, we want the public to see the transformation of Taipower. Also, in or core business of power generation, we hope to integrate people-­centered design into our services and procedures, to rebuild public trust in the company.” This is how Hsu Tsao-hua ultimately interprets the emergence of an innovative new Taipower.

Based on the concept of the circular economy, Taipower produces a range of products made from waste materials. For example, coasters are made out of coal ash from thermal power stations. The result is a line of cultural and creative products with Taipower DNA.

Taipower vice president Hsu Tsao-hua relates that in the course of transforming its public profile Taipower has won numerous awards, and other state-run enterprises have sought to learn from its example. This is a great source of pride for Taipower employees.