Power demand peaks in Korea amid record heat wave

Power supply and demand status is shown on the monitor of Korea Electric Power Corporation’s Seoul headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul on July 7. [Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

Summer electricity demand has soared to an all-time high in South Korea amid the heat wave.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Power Exchange, peak electricity demand reached 93,615 megawatts (MW) at 5 p.m. on Monday, 625MW higher than the previous summer peak demand of 92,990MW on July 7 last year.

The peak demand is above the 92,700MW projected by the Korea Power Exchange.

The Trade Ministry managed to secure a record power supply capacity of 104,818MW on Monday. It explained that 21 of the country’s 25 nuclear power plants were in operations, which contributed to securing stable power supply capacity.

Even at 4:35 p.m. when electricity demand spiked, the reserve capacity stood at 10,803MW and the reserve ratio was 11.48 percent.

If the supply reserve falls below 17,000MW, the ministry takes measures with power producers and related organizations. If the reserve falls below 5,500MW, the ministry enters an emergency phase of power supply.

The Korea District Heating Corp., in the meantime, announced separately that it has begun promoting the supply of stable electricity and district cooling through the collective energy project.

The collective energy project supplies electricity and heat generated by one or more concentrated energy production facilities, such as cogeneration plants, to multiple users at once.

The corporation produces electricity with a capacity of 2,424MW at 12 branches, including seven centralized power generation branches operating under the instruction of the Korea Power Exchange, and supplies excess heat and cold water for district cooling.

The district cooling business consists of hot water cooling using heat generated by cogeneration and direct supply of cold water produced by large chillers. It is carried out by 32 collective energy operators, including the corporation, which holds a 47 percent market share of the total district cooling market in terms of installed capacity.

As Typhoon Khanun is heading north toward the Korean Peninsula and is expected to land on the southern coast on Thursday morning, the corporation will hold an emergency executive meeting Tuesday to order a thorough site-centered safety inspection of all work sites to prevent property and life damage due to heavy rains and falling objects caused by strong winds.

The corporation has been conducting preliminary inspections such as inspecting and maintaining rain gutters and gutter drainage obstacles, strengthening precautionary activities in areas at risk of flooding, and maintaining the availability of water defense equipment in case of flooding.