Minister of Industry: "Possibility of Sharp Increase in Power Demand... Full Effort on Supply and Demand Management"

Inspection of Summer Power Supply Management Status by Jungbu Power

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, emphasized on the 20th that "all related power agencies must make every effort with extraordinary determination to manage stable power supply and demand this summer."

On the same day, Minister Moon visited the Korea Midland Power Seoul Combined Power Plant Headquarters to check the summer power supply and demand management situation, stating, "The power supply capacity is maintained at the usual level, but due to the ongoing heatwave, power demand could surge at any time," and requested, "Please thoroughly manage to prevent safety accidents at power plants and minimize equipment failures."

He added, "Since cyberattacks on overseas energy infrastructure have recently occurred, please also focus on cybersecurity for major power facilities."

Furthermore, Minister Moon asked for participation in energy-saving practices such as adhering to the appropriate indoor temperature (26℃) and refraining from unnecessary electricity use. He also urged strengthening COVID-19 quarantine activities at major power facilities such as power plants.

Last week, the power supply and demand maintained a 'normal' state with a supply reserve margin above 10%. However, as the rainy season ends this week and a full-scale heatwave is forecasted, power demand is expected to surge, with a high possibility of the lowest reserve margin occurring this summer.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has completed preparations to deploy additional reserve resources (8.8GW), such as trial-operated generators and solar-linked energy storage systems (ESS), to contribute during peak power hours in anticipation of reserve margin decline. Depending on the reserve margin situation this week, these will be deployed timely to ensure no issues in power supply and demand. Shin-Wolsong Unit 1, Shin-Kori Unit 4, and Wolseong Unit 3, which were offline due to planned preventive maintenance, will complete maintenance and sequentially restart from this week.

In addition, various power demand reduction measures will be promoted, including staggered summer vacations for high electricity-consuming industries, reducing cooling and lighting demand using electrical technicians, adherence to appropriate cooling temperatures in public institutions, and sequential suspension of cooling devices.