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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