Air conditioning surge causes blackouts in Korean cities

Korean cities suffered power outages last week after record-high temperatures nationwide have caused excessive use of air conditioning. / Korea Times file

By Chyung Eun-ju

Korean cities plunged into darkness over the last week as record-high temperatures nationwide have caused excessive use of air conditioning leading to power outages.

An apartment in Sasang-gu, Busan, had its electricity cut for two hours on Sunday at around 8:25 p.m. The accident locked 17 people inside an elevator for 90 minutes until police rescued them.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) sent workers to the scene and found two blown fuses linked to the elevator. KEPCO, Korea’s largest electricity distributor, said the fuses blew due to an electricity overload caused by excessive air conditioning usage.

A luxurious residential complex in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu in Seoul, had a blackout last Thursday at 9:20 p.m.

Three buildings of the Samsung Tower Palace complex had their power restored within 20 minutes but the remaining one had a power outage for over an hour. Around 1,300 households in the complex suffered from excessive heat as they couldn’t turn on their air conditioning or use elevators.

Electricity was cut due to problems with power facilities and transformer overload.

Several apartments in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, suffered a massive blackout lasting over five hours starting at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. Power facilities linked to the buildings failed due to electricity overuse, according to KEPCO.

An apartment building in Guri and another one in Daejeon also had power outages for over an hour last week due to air conditioning overuse.