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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Concerns are growing over the stability of the power grid as massive power outages occur in six years. This is because KEPCO, which is suffering from massive financial difficulties, fails to invest in the power grid on time, which could lead to a series of power outages in the future.
According to KEPCO on the 8th, a power outage in Ulsan on the 6th occurred during work to replace the 28-year-old aging switchgear. "We were working by blocking one of the two lines that supply power, but suddenly the power was cut off from the remaining one," a KEPCO official said.
So far, KEPCO estimates that the cause of the accident is due to the failure of the opening and closing device, which serves as a "switch" to cut or insert electricity. KEPCO plans to conduct further investigation on the cause of the breakdown.
A power outage of 155,000 households occurred in Nam-gu, Ulsan at 3:37 p.m. the previous day, causing a series of damage such as turning off traffic lights and people trapped in elevators. Immediately after the power outage, KEPCO began emergency recovery and power was supplied from 5:40 p.m. The blackout on the day is the biggest blackout in six years since the 200,000-household blackout in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in 2017.
For now, KEPCO has drawn a line between the accident and the deficit. An official of KEPCO explained, "Old facilities are being replaced in time according to the regulations."
However, as KEPCO faced a massive deficit crisis, concerns about power grid management continued to be raised. Despite the rapid increase in demand for power transmission and distribution facilities every year, related investments amounted to KRW 6.135 trillion last year, down about KRW 400 billion from KRW 6.39 trillion in 2021.
Power outages have been on the rise recently. The number of power outages increased from 506 in 2018 to 933 last year. On the 14th of last month, a power outage occurred due to a "voltage drop" in the southern part of the metropolitan area, including Suwon, Yongin, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, causing a dizzying situation such as the roller coaster T-Express in Yongin Everland suddenly stopped. In response, KEPCO explained, "It seems to have surged as we raised the standard for power outages."
KEPCO has announced a reduction in investment in the future in order to reduce debt. In May, KEPCO announced a 25 trillion won self-rescue plan and said it would save 1.3 trillion won by 2026 by delaying the construction of some power facilities.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
