Due to the impact of COVID-19, power generation decreased in January and February... Coal down 15%, renewable energy increased

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Due to the economic downturn caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and fine dust reduction policies, power generation in January and February decreased by about 2%.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KEPCO's Power Statistics Bulletin on the 2nd, the total power generation from January to February this year was 96,019 GWh, down 1.9% from 97,836 GWh during the same period last year.

Coal power generation, which accounts for the largest share, fell sharply from 40,799 GWh to 34,710 GWh, a 14.9% decrease. Its share of total power generation dropped from 41.7% to 36.1%.

The spread of COVID-19 in China in January significantly reduced power demand, as the automobile industry experienced some production disruptions.

Additionally, the government implemented seasonal fine dust management measures, suspending operations at some coal power plants and imposing an 80% output cap, which caused coal power generation to decline steeply.

Looking at monthly figures, power generation in January decreased by 6.3%, more than double the previous month's decline of 3.0%.

In February, exports in semiconductor and shipbuilding industries recovered and telecommuting increased, leading to a surprising 3.3% rebound. However, as COVID-19 spread globally from March to Europe and the United States, deepening the recession, power generation is likely to decrease again.

The U.S. economic magazine Forbes reported that Europe's power demand in the first quarter of this year fell by about 10%, marking the largest drop since World War II.

Nuclear power increased by 5.6%, from 23,290 GWh to 24,589 GWh, as nuclear plant utilization rates returned to normal levels.

Renewable energy (excluding waste) continued a steady growth trend despite COVID-19.

Renewable energy generation from January to February rose 25.0%, from 3,005 GWh to 3,757 GWh. Consequently, its share of total power generation increased by 0.8 percentage points, from 3.1% to 3.9%.

The scale of new renewable energy installations in the first quarter of this year doubled compared to the same period last year (0.7 GW), reaching 1.34 GW, achieving 54.5% of this year's supply target (2.46 GW) in just one quarter.

Solar power increased from 619 MW to 1,176 MW, and wind power from 80 MW to 142 MW, nearly doubling and driving the expansion of renewable energy supply.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.