Nowon-gu, Special Campaign to Prevent Safety Accidents from Aging Transformers in Apartment Complexes

Guidance on Preventing Safety Accidents of Aging Transformers for Apartment Management Entities... Subsidy Support for Transformer Replacement, Capacity Expansion, and Application for Apartment Support Projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is launching a special campaign for the "Prevention of Safety Accidents in Aging Transformers in Apartment Complexes" to prevent power outages that may occur due to a surge in electricity usage during the summer heatwave.

Recently, the demand for electricity per household has been steadily increasing due to the enlargement of home appliances and the increased use of high power-consuming devices.

However, electrical equipment such as transformers in apartments that have been completed for more than 15 to 20 years are still being operated without replacement due to cost burdens and other reasons.

In particular, in Nowon-gu apartment complexes, there are 180 complexes that have been completed for more than 20 years, so transformer aging is expected to be severe, making it a critical time to prevent safety accidents.

Accordingly, the district first guides the use of long-term repair reserves established under the long-term repair plan to be prioritized for replacing aging transformers. According to the Apartment Complex Management Act, the full replacement cycle for transformers is 25 years.

Subsidies will also be provided. When apartment complexes apply to the district for transformer replacement and capacity expansion under the apartment complex support project, the replacement costs will be supported.

Additionally, apartment complex electrical safety managers are guided to regularly inspect transformers. Through annual regular inspections and detailed inspections conducted every six years, timely transformer replacement is promoted.

Information on the aging transformer replacement support project conducted by Korea Electric Power Corporation is also provided. The target for aging transformer support is transformers with a household capacity of less than 3kW and that have been installed for more than 15 years.

The district plans to actively promote this through official notices to apartment complex management entities for power outage prevention and via the Nowon-gu Apartment Council SNS channels.

The reason the district has launched this special campaign is to prevent secondary accidents such as power outages and explosions caused by transformer overload, despite increased electricity demand per household during the summer heatwave.

Meanwhile, this year the district is implementing a total of 1.08 billion KRW in apartment complex support projects for the maintenance of common facilities and community revitalization.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, "This is a time when safety management of aging transformers in apartment complexes is necessary due to the summer heatwave," and added, "We will continue various policies and support to create better apartment living environments."