Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Jungbu Power Selected as Priority Operators for New Pumped Storage Projects

Sequential Completion of Pumped Storage Power Plants Starting from 2035

New pumped storage power plant priority operators have been selected as Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (Hapcheon) and Korea Midland Power (Gurye).

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the results of the priority review for new pumped storage power plant operators based on the 10th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand on the 28th.

According to the review results, in addition to the two priority operators, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (Yeongyang), Korea Midland Power (Bonghwa), Korea East-West Power (Gokseong), and Korea South-East Power (Geumsan), which passed the eligibility criteria, were selected as preliminary operators, and all are scheduled to sequentially complete pumped storage power plants starting from 2035.

The government evaluated the economic feasibility, technical capability, local acceptance, and grid conditions of six project proposals submitted by four companies at the ‘Priority Review Committee’ held on the 27th, commissioned by the Korea Power Exchange. Afterwards, the review results were received from the secretariat institution, Korea Power Exchange, and announced.

In this review, operators included within the required capacity of 1.75 gigawatts (GW) ±20% were selected as priority operators, while those who passed the eligibility criteria but did not fall within the required capacity were selected as preliminary operators. Both priority and preliminary operators will undergo preliminary feasibility studies as stipulated by the Public Institution Management Act.

For each project that passes the preliminary feasibility study, priority operators will be confirmed with the capacity according to the 10th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand and will start construction aiming for completion by March 2035. For preliminary operators’ capacity, the plan is to reflect it in the 11th Basic Plan by replacing coal held by public enterprises with pumped storage and to promote sequential completion between 2035 and 2038. If any priority operator fails the preliminary feasibility study, the status of priority operator will be transferred in order of preliminary operators’ ranking.

Visit Kyoo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "As the new construction of pumped storage power plants is expected to continue in line with the expansion of renewable energy, continuous support and practical assistance from the pumped storage hosting regions are necessary," adding, "We will work with operators to ensure that there are no inconveniences to local communities during the construction and operation processes."

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