Kaohsiung: The fire that broke out at Taiwan's third-largest power plant, the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung, on Tuesday night will not affect the nation's power supply, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin said on Wednesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, the fire mainly affected the plant's new natural gas Unit 2, which had been in a test operation phase. The 2-1 main body remained unharmed, while the 2-2 body is set to be inspected by Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) and its equipment provider, Kung explained during a press interview.

The plant's new natural gas Unit 1 was assessed to have no issues, Kung stated. To ensure a stable electricity supply, the state-run Taipower is considering deploying backup units if necessary, he added. Kung also expressed apologies for any distress caused to residents.

Meanwhile, Taipower reported that preliminary assessments suggested a gas leak in Unit 2 led to the fire. The leak was detected at approximately 7:57 p.m. on Tuesday, with staff halting operations and reporting the issue before the fire erupted at 8:05 p.m., according to Taipower.

The Kaohsiung City Fire Department arrived at 8:24 p.m. and extinguished the fire, with no injuries reported. Taipower committed to investigating the cause of the leak and implementing comprehensive improvements to prevent similar incidents, in addition to inspecting whether the damaged equipment requires replacement.

The company also assured that it would regularly update the public on investigation findings and recovery efforts. In response to concerns about potential air pollution from the fire, Taipower noted that the Ministry of Environment and nearby air quality stations reported no abnormalities.

The Hsinta Power Plant is a thermal power facility with the third-largest installed capacity in Taiwan.