Heatwave brings woes on power shortage

Shutdown of power plants may result in electricity shortfall

By Yoon Ja-young

Eight of the country’s old coal-fired power plants will be temporarily shut down this month, following President Moon Jae-in’s order to tackle ultrafine dust.

However, the heat wave that has arrived in the country earlier than usual is increasing the demand for electricity, raising concerns the country will face an electricity shortage.

Experts say that a paradigm shift in industrial structure, where businesses consume less electricity, would be a fundamental solution.

According to LG Electronics, it has been fully operating its air conditioner production line in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, since March, increasing the first quarter production by over 40 percent from a year ago. Samsung Electronics is also fully operating its production line, with consumers reporting that they had to wait several weeks to get one installed.

As the mid-day highs are already rising to near 30 degrees Celsius, the country is expecting a summer hotter than usual. While electricity consumption will increase as a result, the supply side is facing a challenge.

The country has 59 coal-fired power plants, among which 10 are over 30 years old. Eight of the old power plants will be shut down for one month this year, and for four months next year.

The measure is expected to reduce ultrafine dust by 1 or 2 percent, which has been one of priorities in President Moon’s agenda. He pledged shutting them down completely within his term.

The measure, however, will also decrease the electricity supply by 2845 megawatts (MW). On top of that, the shutdown of Gori-1 nuclear reactor scheduled for June 18 will also decrease electricity supply by 587MW.

The government says that there won’t be an immediate problem, when considering that country consumes between 70 and 75GW of electricity in June, which is smaller than its 100GW production capacity.

It points out that the eight coal-fired reactors generate only 2.6 percent of the electricity supply.

Coupled with the heat wave, however, the electricity reserve ratio is expected to fall to around 13 percent in the summer. It means the country may fail to meet the demand in case a problem occurs in one of the nuclear power plants as happened a few years ago.

Experts also point out that the shutdown of coal-fired power plants and decreasing the dependency on nuclear power will lead to higher electricity costs.

According to analysis by President Moon’s election camp, the electricity rate will likely rise by 25 percent by 2030 following President Moon’s pledges, which will decrease the ratio of coal-fired power plants to 25 percent from 39.3 percent while increasing the ratio of gas-powered power plants to 37 percent from 18.8 percent.

Experts point out that the country’s low electricity rates have been heavily favoring businesses.

“The progressive billing system should be applied to not only households but also to industries. The problem won’t be solved unless businesses that consume huge amounts of energy are controlled. Households are not the problem,” said Lee Jung-pil, a researcher at Energy & Climate Policy Institute.

President Moon also pledged to reform industrial electricity rates to prevent overconsumption.

“Transition to renewable and clean energy is in the right direction. However, there should be a consensus among consumers that they are willing to accept higher electricity rates in exchange for cleaner air,” an industry analyst said.

He added that the country’s low electricity rate is also hampering development of renewable energy as there is little incentive in shifting to the relatively expensive renewable energy.