South Korea's state power company issued a shortage warning Monday, meaning that reserves are dangerously low, as electricity consumption rose sharply due to an unusual heatwave.
South Korea
's
state power company issued a shortage warning Monday, meaning that reserves are
dangerously low, as electricity consumption rose sharply due to an unusual
heatwave.
The warning from the Korea Electric Power Co. (KEP) was aimed at averting power
cuts, the knowledge economy ministry said, as it urged households, factories
and other users to cut consumption voluntarily.
Temperatures have stayed above 35 degrees Celsius (95 F) for 10 consecutive
days across the country, driving up air-conditioning use.
The warning was the first since last September, when more than 2.1 million
households and other premises were hit with rolling power cuts lasting up to
one hour.
The ministry also resumed operations of the country's oldest nuclear power
plant at Gori, which had been closed for months due to scrutiny over its safety
and protests by civic groups.
"We are relieved to resume operations of the Gori reactor at a time when
power consumption is expected to reach its peak," Knowledge Economy
Minister Hong Suk-woo said in a statement.
In February the Gori plant--built in 1978 near the southern city of Busan--briefly
lost mains power and the emergency generator failed to kick in.
The incident didn't result in any radioactive leaks but it sparked an extensive
probe amid concerns over nuclear safety following last year's atomic crisis in
Japan.
South Korea
operates
23 nuclear power plants which meet more than 35% of its electricity needs.
Analysts say successive governments have failed to authorize major increases in
the relatively low cost of electricity, encouraging wasteful consumption.
Kepco Friday decided to raise rates by 4.9%, yielding to government pressure to
limit the increase to less than 5%.
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