KEPCO Conducts Emergency Power Supply Drill... "No Power Supply Issues Expected This Summer"

Asia Economy DB=Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) conducted an "Emergency Power Supply and Demand Drill" on the 28th at its disaster situation room at the headquarters in Naju, Jeollanam-do, to prepare for emergency situations in power supply and demand.

The drill assumed an emergency scenario where power demand remains high due to prolonged abnormal heat, and a generator failure causes the reserve power to rapidly drop below 2.5 million kW, testing the power supply and demand response system.

The main drill scenarios are as follows. When the power reserve falls below 4 million kW and the power supply and demand emergency "Interest" stage is declared, disaster situation room staff operate hotlines with business sites and notify broadcasters of the power supply and demand status using communication methods such as SMS and fax.

Next, they post real-time notices on the company’s social media and homepage and maintain a rapid cooperation system with related organizations such as the Korea Power Exchange. Additionally, measures such as reducing power demand through remote control systems installed on heating and cooling devices in customer buildings are implemented.

When the power reserve falls below 2.5 million kW and the "Alert" stage is declared, measures such as demand adjustment by emergency power-saving contracted customers (165 customers, 895,000 kW) are implemented to secure reserve power.

Assuming demand reduction due to emergency measures and fluctuations in reserve power caused by generator abnormalities, step-by-step response measures such as cooperation for power saving by large customers are sequentially implemented.

Kim Dong-seop, KEPCO Executive Vice President of Business, urged the participating employees, saying, "Stable power supply and demand is KEPCO’s most fundamental and important task," and added, "Since heatwaves caused by supply facility abnormalities or temperature fluctuations can occur at any time, please make every effort to ensure there are no problems in power supply and demand until the end of the power supply and demand countermeasure period in September."

Meanwhile, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the average temperature this summer is expected to be similar to or higher than normal, but the possibility of a heatwave at the 2018 level is low.

The maximum power demand this summer is expected to be around 87.3 million kW under the baseline forecast and around 90.8 million kW under the upper forecast.

The supply capacity at peak time is projected to be 101.9 million kW, with a reserve power of 12.89 million kW (9.39 million kW under the upper forecast). Additionally, there are 7.29 million kW of extra reserve resources, so KEPCO expects no problems in power supply.

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