Nuclear Power Reduced KEPCO's Deficit

Nuclear Power Purchase Volume in Q1 This Year
41,826 GWh, Highest in 5 Years
Purchase Price Down 8.5 Won from Last Year
Estimated Profit About 47 Won per KWh

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has increased its nuclear power purchase volume in the first quarter of this year to the highest level in the past five years. By raising the proportion of nuclear power, which has a relatively lower production cost compared to coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), it appears to have partially offset the record-high deficit.

According to KEPCO's "March Electricity Statistics Monthly Report" on the 16th, the nuclear power purchase volume in the first quarter of this year totaled 41,826 GWh, an 8.21% increase compared to the same period last year (38,651 GWh). This is the largest amount in the past five years (2018?2022), and it is the first time that the first quarter nuclear power purchase volume has exceeded 40,000 GWh. Looking at the nuclear power purchase volume over the past five years, it showed an increasing trend with 26,501 GWh in 2018, 35,723 GWh in 2019, 37,026 GWh in 2020, and 38,651 GWh last year. KEPCO's average nuclear power purchase price in the first quarter was 62.94 KRW per kWh, which is 8.48 KRW lower than the same period last year (71.42 KRW). This contrasts sharply with the purchase prices for bituminous coal and LNG combined power, which surged to 54.8 KRW and 119.01 KRW respectively during the same period.

Considering that KEPCO's average electricity sales price during the same period was 110.4 KRW, it is interpreted that if all the power purchased through nuclear power was sold, an average profit of 47.46 KRW per kWh was earned. Applying this to the total nuclear power purchase volume, KEPCO is estimated to have earned about 1.985 trillion KRW in revenue by selling nuclear power generated in the first quarter to households and factories. However, some power losses and other factors are excluded, and this figure is about 580 billion KRW higher than the estimated nuclear power sales profit (1.4061 trillion KRW) for the same period last year.

The high economic efficiency of nuclear power is also reflected in the electricity purchase costs by power source. KEPCO's nuclear power purchase cost in the first quarter was 2.6324 trillion KRW, a 4.6% decrease compared to the same period last year (2.7606 trillion KRW). This means that KEPCO was able to increase nuclear power purchases with less money. In contrast, the purchase costs for bituminous coal and LNG combined power during the same period surged by 74.8% and 112.0% respectively to 6.8155 trillion KRW and 9.9485 trillion KRW, which were identified as the main causes of KEPCO's record deficit. Notably, the LNG combined power purchase volume slightly decreased to 44,605 GWh from 45,001 GWh last year, but the cost more than doubled despite purchasing less volume.

Experts predict that nuclear power efficiency will be further improved in line with the new government's policy to strengthen the use of nuclear power as a main baseload power source. Professor Jeong Dong-wook of the Department of Energy Systems at Chung-Ang University said, "Just as the European Union (EU) included nuclear power in its taxonomy (green classification system) earlier this year, the world is once again focusing on it as the most efficient power source," adding, "To reform KEPCO's deficit structure, it is necessary to maximize the operation rate by improving efficiency during nuclear power maintenance periods."

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