KEPCO to Build 'Electricity Expressway' Connecting Honam and Seoul Metropolitan Areas

The power authorities have decided to build an offshore power grid along the west coast that can transmit the surplus electricity from the Honam region to the Seoul metropolitan area. This is the first time the government is pushing for the construction of large-scale offshore ultra-high voltage transmission facilities.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) recently announced on the 8th that the '10th Long-term Transmission and Transformation Facility Plan,' which includes this content, was finalized at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Electricity Committee.

The plan includes multiple measures to minimize output control caused by renewable energy. Output control is the forced shutdown of power generation to prevent large-scale blackouts when power production exceeds consumption excessively.

Currently, the Honam region, where nuclear power plants and renewable energy facilities are concentrated, needs to transmit surplus electricity during periods of low power consumption such as spring and autumn to the Seoul metropolitan area, where power demand is high. However, transmission lines connecting the two regions are extremely insufficient.

Power shortages can cause a 'blackout' (large-scale power outage), but conversely, blackouts can also occur when there is a momentary excessive power supply during periods of low demand.

Accordingly, the government has been considering building transmission lines connecting the Honam region, which has abundant carbon-free power sources such as nuclear and renewable energy and often produces more power than needed, with the Seoul metropolitan area, which frequently experiences power shortages.

However, installing transmission lines on land would inevitably face opposition from local residents. Therefore, the government and KEPCO have decided to pursue the installation of ultra-high voltage direct current transmission (HVDC), an offshore 'electric highway,' in the West Sea.

Currently, there is an offshore transmission line connecting Jeju to the Jeollanam-do region (Haenam and Jindo), but this is small-scale, and there is no offshore wide-area transmission network extending to the Seoul metropolitan area, where power demand is highest.

KEPCO stated, "This plan is an urgent and significant national task to contribute to the stable power supply of the country's advanced strategic industries and to establish power infrastructure for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Despite difficult financial conditions, we will implement this plan without fail."

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