嘉南西口、烏山頭和八田

The Xikou, Wushantou, and Hatta plants are all located in Tainan City, attached to the Wushantou Reservoir at the heart of the Chianan Plain irrigation system (designed by engineer Yoichi Hatta), with power generation as a secondary function of irrigation water delivery.

嘉南西口、烏山頭和八田 (Hydro) currently reports a net generation of 10.6 MW across 1 unit(s), against an installed capacity of 13.7 MW (77.4% utilization).

Hydro plants can start or stop within seconds to minutes, making them one of the grid's fastest tools for frequency regulation and peak-shaving. The pumped-storage plants around Sun Moon Lake (Mingtan, Daguan) pump water uphill using off-peak electricity and release it to generate during peak demand, effectively acting as large-scale energy storage. Output is highly dependent on rainfall and reservoir levels.

Hydropower was Taiwan's earliest form of electricity generation, with several plants dating back to the Japanese colonial era. Because most viable river sites have already been developed, hydro capacity has grown little in recent decades and its share has been diluted by the rapid expansion of gas and solar. Its low-carbon, fast-dispatch characteristics nonetheless keep it strategically important for grid stability as variable renewables expand.