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| Shoppers look at air conditioners on display in an appliance store in Yongsan District in central Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap |
KEPCO to conduct simulation drill on Monday to avoid power shortages
By Yi Whan-woo
Korea is at risk of power shortages as the extreme summer heat is causing energy demand to spike, sparking fears that the electricity reserve level may drop below 10 percent, the minimum required to avoid a possible blackout.
The reserve level remained in the 10 percent range on most days last week, as daily high temperatures continued to stay above the 30 degrees Celsius. The level dipped as low as 10.1 percent Tuesday.
Although the level climbed to 27.5 percent, Saturday, the urgent nature of electricity supply has prompted Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), a state-run electricity provider, to schedule a simulation exercise, Monday.
The drill will focus on how efficiently the KEPCO control tower can spread real-time messages to the firm's branches nationwide on electricity use and have them take corresponding measures.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy speculated the ratio of remaining energy capacity to maximum demand could fall as low as 4.2 percent on some days this summer.
The country last endured a blackout in September 2011 ― which was unprecedented in its scale during peacetime ― as KEPCO failed to cope with a surge in electricity use. The energy reserve ratio went as low as 5 percent back then.
Under these circumstances, the government's nuclear phase-out policy is believed to be worsening the situation.
Nuclear energy, according to KEPCO, is the second-largest source of electricity here after coal; but one-third of the country's 24 nuclear reactors are currently unavailable due to safety maintenance or other reasons.
"The government has been overly aggressive in its nuclear phase-out policy and as a result the electricity supply is now in a very unstable situation," said Joo Han-gyu, a nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University, Friday.
In particular, he noted that government approval for operating the most recently built nuclear reactor, Shin Hanwool No. 1, has been delayed. It is currently undergoing testing and is not expected to be operational until March next year.
Joo warned of possible blackouts for the first time since 2011, if demand for electricity goes beyond supply levels during peak hours.
He said that peak demand for electricity set new yearly highs between Monday and Thursday ― 85.01 million kilowatts, Monday; 87.17 million kilowatts, Tuesday; 88.09 million kilowatts, Wednesday; and 88.55 million kilowatts, Thursday, ― before dropping to 88.01 million kilowatts, Friday, and 71.84 million kilowatts, Saturday.
The demand for electricity last week was higher than the previous week, which ranged between 76.2 million and 81.1 million kilowatts.
The increased demand comes as daily temperature highs nationwide are surpassing 30 degrees Celsius, prompting the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) to issue heat wave advisories and warnings for most of the country.
The KMA forecast that this year's short-lived monsoon season will end completely, Tuesday, and that a prolonged extreme heat wave will then engulf the nation.
The weather agency said the country may log its hottest summer on record, with the mercury reaching beyond the all-time high of 40.7 degrees Celsius set in 2018 and the second-highest record of 39.4 degrees Celsius in 1994.
