A fire broke out at POSCO Pohang Steelworks, causing a power outage and halting operations at many factories. The fire department extinguished the fire after about 2 hours and 10 minutes.
On the 23rd, a fire broke out at POSCO Pohang Steelworks in Nam-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongbuk, spreading black smoke around the area. [Image source=Yonhap News]
According to POSCO and the Gyeongbuk Provincial Fire Headquarters on the 23rd, a fire occurred around 7:07 a.m. near the by-product gas pipeline of Blast Furnace No. 2 at POSCO Pohang Steelworks in Dongchon-dong, Nam-gu, Pohang City.
The fire department mobilized 33 fire trucks and over 100 firefighters from the 119 Special Response Team and the Pohang, Gyeongju, and Yeongcheon fire stations, extinguishing the fire after about 2 hours and 10 minutes. No fire mobilization orders or other response stages were issued. So far, no casualties or damage to residents have been confirmed.
Initially, the fire department reported that the fire started at the by-product gas pipeline, but after an initial investigation, it was revealed that the fire was caused by an impact from a broken oxygen pipeline valve. Subsequently, power outage occurred as wires around the valve were cut.
The by-product gas pipeline was also shut off, reducing power generation. POSCO uses by-product gas generated as a byproduct in the product manufacturing process to generate electricity and supply power within the plant. A POSCO official stated, "Overall, about 30% of the electricity used in the plant is supplied by Korea Electric Power Corporation, and about 70% comes from by-product gas power generation."
As a result, operations at many factories within the steelworks were temporarily suspended. Pohang Steelworks has separate factories for processes such as steelmaking and steel refining. The police confirmed that power outages halted operations in 4 out of 5 POSCO zones.
After the fire was extinguished, POSCO began restarting the power plant facilities. Equipment that was temporarily stopped due to reduced electricity will be sequentially restarted. The blast furnace and FINEX plants are operating normally. A POSCO official said, "Although power generation temporarily decreased due to the gas supply interruption, electricity supply to critical equipment is maintained through emergency generators, so there is no problem," adding, "We expect no significant impact on overall operations." He also added, "Out of the eight power plant facilities that were temporarily stopped due to reduced electricity, five have started operating, and currently, the blast furnace and FINEX are running normally."
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