Korea turns to nuclear power amid scorching heat wave

By Nam Hyun-woo

The Moon Jae-in administration's plan to phase out nuclear power has come under question as electricity demand soars amid a scorching heat wave.

To cope with the explosive power demand, the government has belatedly turned to nuclear power, announcing it will raise the number of operating nuclear plants from 14 to 19, but calls are growing for a fundamental change in the government's energy policy roadmap.

According to the Korea Power Exchange Monday, the country's electricity load hid 88.91 million kilowatts as of 1:50 p.m. The reserves margin was nearing a single-digit number at 10.21 percent. A margin below 10 percent means the reserves are insufficient.

The load was far higher than the government's anticipated 87.5 million kilowatts for this year in the Eighth Basic Plan for Long-Term Electricity Supply and Demand, released last December to suggest Korea's basic roadmap for its electricity supply up to 2031.

The government raised its anticipated maximum demand to 88.3 million kilowatts in a July plan, but estimated such a load would come in the second week of next month, when the summer heat is expected to hit its stride.

As the scorching heat baking the country is stronger and earlier than past years, the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) said Sunday it will increase the number of operating nuclear power plants by five to supply an additional 5 million kilowatts during summer.

Following President Moon's post-nuclear energy plan, the government has been making efforts to cut the number of operating nuclear plants, stipulating steps in the eighth electricity roadmap.

Fourteen nuclear power plants supplied electricity during the past winter, but the KHNP raised the number to 16 last week and made another announcement that the number would grow to 19 throughout this summer, to deal with the excessive demand.

The operation rate of nuclear plants in Korea remained at 54.8 percent in March, but it will reach 80 percent with 19 plants running.

The criticism has been raised over the government's flip-flopping that it had underestimated” summer electricity demand in a bid to provide grounds for its initiative to phase out nuclear energy.

When the government announced its electricity roadmap, doubts were then raised that the maximum 87.5 million kilowatts estimation for this year is “too low,” as the highest demand in 2017 already reached 84.59 million kilowatts and this year's actual demand will hover over the estimate given the economic growth rate.

“I would call the government's electricity demand anticipation radical compared to its previous electricity roadmaps,” said Roh Dong-seok, senior research fellow at the Korea Energy Economics Institute.

“The reason why the government came up with the electricity roadmap is to pursue a stabilized electricity supply. Thus, it has to be conservative in estimating electricity demand (setting the anticipation high) and secure enough power-generating facilities,” he said. “But the eighth plan seems to be going against the cause of the roadmap, raising the question that the government has lowered the demand because expected supply does not meet the demand due to post-nuclear policies.”

He expects this year's electricity demand peak will surpass 90 million kilowatts.

Roh also questioned the government's assumptions on growth of electricity demand in its long-term plan.

“In the eighth plan, the government suggested a radical electricity demand for 2026 to 2031, based on the assumption that economic growth would stand at 2 percent and electricity demand growth at 0.1 percent. How can electricity demand grow 0.1 percent while the entire economy is growing at 2 percent?”