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According to the industry on the 1st, Korea Electric Power’s electricity reserves fell significantly by a recent scorching heat wave. On May 29, the electricity reserves fell down to 6.79 million kW, raising concerns over electricity supply ahead of serious summer heat wave season.
However, the government hasn‘t announced energy saving measures to regulate power supply throughout the summer season. The electricity industry sees this is due to improved condition of electricity supply compared with previous years.
The biggest reason comes from increased number of power plants.
As of June 1, most of power plants are operating without any problems. In addition, new power plants such as Youngheung Power Plant No. 5, Pocheon Power Plant No.1, Ulsan Combined Cycle Plant No.4, and POSCO Combined Cycle Power Plant No. 7 will soon be operating.
As the number of power plants increased, the total power generation is expected to climb up to its full capacity of 90 million kW in August.
Other power plants, which had gone through security checks ahead of summer season, resumed operation as well.
Meanwhile, the scorching heat coming earlier than expected is the biggest reason for raising concerns over power supply.
Another unstable factor is the increasing number of power facilities that have operational problems. According to Korea Power Exchange, there were 238 cases of failure in power plants last year, which increased greatly compared to the previous year with 196 cases in total.
