The Government to Announce 'Winter Power Supply Measures' This Month... Accelerating Response to Energy Supply and Demand

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The government is accelerating efforts to prepare energy supply and demand measures for the winter season.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that on the morning of the 17th, Lee Ho-hyun, Director General of the Power Innovation Policy Bureau at the Ministry, presided over a "Pre-inspection Meeting on Preparations for Stable Winter Power Supply and Demand" held at the Korea Electric Power Corporation Power Infrastructure Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The meeting was attended by Director Lee, as well as related power organizations including KEPCO, Korea Power Exchange, five power generation public enterprises, and Korea Gas Corporation.

The ministry held the pre-inspection meeting due to increasing instability in energy supply and demand since the Ukraine crisis. In particular, Russia's suspension of gas supply to major European countries has caused liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices to soar. Director Lee stated, "The global energy crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war is spreading to issues such as expanding trade deficits and deterioration of the financial structure of energy public enterprises," adding, "Uncertainties in fuel supply such as LNG and thermal coal, as well as the possibility of abnormal cold weather due to climate change, persist, making the power supply and demand conditions this winter challenging."

Accordingly, Director Lee emphasized the importance of base power sources such as nuclear and coal power generation. He said, "We must maximize the use of base power generation like nuclear and coal to reduce LNG consumption for power generation," and urged, "Please meticulously manage risks such as global fuel supply, unexpected breakdowns, and maintenance delays to ensure stable operation without disruption."

Energy public enterprises such as KEPCO and Korea Gas Corporation requested the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to operate the seasonal fine dust management system flexibly. Temporarily suspending the seasonal fine dust management system, which operates every winter, would allow an increase in the share of coal power generation and reduce LNG demand. Regarding this, Director Lee said, "We are in consultation with related ministries."

As part of the response to the energy crisis, the Ministry plans to finalize and announce the "Winter Power Supply and Demand Outlook and Measures" within this month. Additionally, the ministry intends to designate the period from December 1 of this year to February 28 of next year as the power supply and demand countermeasure period.

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