Summer electricity demand forecast to creep up over heat wave
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Korea's electricity demand over this summer is forecast to rise higher than the level a year earlier due to hotter-than-usual weather conditions, the industry ministry said Thursday.
The country's maximum electricity demand is estimated to reach 91.7 to 95.7 gigawatts (GW) during the peak of the summer, or around the second week of August, larger than 91.1 GW last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The estimated supply is 100.9 GW this year, nearly the same as last year's 100.7, as the production growth from nuclear power plants will offset the fall in output from coal-fired power plants, the ministry said.
The country's energy reserves are expected to sink to their lowest level in recent years to around 5.2 GW this summer, the ministry said. The comparable figures for 2020 and 2021 were 8.9 GW and 9.6 GW, respectively.
In an effort to ensure a stable electricity supply, the government has secured an additional 9.2 GW of reserve power on standby, as well as fuel needed for power generation in the coming months amid a global energy shortage.
It plans to operate special monitoring on energy supplies from July 4 through Sept. 8 and will advise government ministries and other public institutions to implement measures to reduce power consumption. (Yonhap)