Power industry laid a solid foundation for growth
By Choi Kyung-hwan
Korea’s power industry came into being in March 1887 with the installation of a seven-kilowatt coal-fired generator at Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul. Eight years earlier, Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb. Sadly, the new technology had an unforeseen result: Water from the palace’s pond was used as a coolant, and the sudden change in temperature killed all the fish.
More than a century later, Korea boasts large-scale generation facilities for nuclear, thermal and hydro power along with new and renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaic power. Its power industry is world-class, with an installed capacity of more than 73,000 megawatts.
On July 1, 1961, the Chosun, Kyungsung and Namsun electric companies merged to form the Korea Electric Company (KECO). Since that time, electricity consumption has increased exponentially in parallel with the nation’s economic growth. Only 790,000 households had power in 1961, compared with 18.7 million today; consumption per household has skyrocketed from 1,492 kilowatt hours to 21,064 kilowatt hours. Elec
Aug 16, 2010
