Korea Electric Power Corporation and power group companies decided to cut their energy use by about 513 gigawatt-hours (GWh), or 5% of last year's consumption, to respond to the energy crisis stemming from worsening conditions in the Middle East. The saved power could substitute for about 80,000 tons of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Korea Electric Power Corporation said on the 5th that it held an "emergency CEOs' meeting of power group companies" at the KEPCO Art Center on the 3rd and prepared a comprehensive energy-saving plan centered on these measures. The power group companies are Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP), Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN), Korea Midland Power Co. (KOMIPO), Korea Western Power (KOWEPO), Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPO), Korea East-West Power Co. (EWP), KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company (KEPCO E&C), KEPCO KPS, KEPCO NF, and KEPCO KDN Co. (KDN), totaling 10 companies.
KEPCO and the power group companies view the current situation as an "economic wartime situation," and closely reviewed the potential impact of surging exchange rates and international fuel prices on their financial structure and response measures. They also agreed to pool capabilities at the group level to overcome the energy crisis by maximizing power supply capacity.
First, KEPCO will actively participate in an even-odd license plate driving program and expand the use of public transportation to reduce energy consumption across the organization. It also plans to announce nationwide support measures for energy savings, including strengthening support for residential energy cashback, bolstering programs that provide high-efficiency equipment for energy-vulnerable areas, and expanding support for maximum demand controller installations for general, industrial, and educational use.
The power group companies decided to pursue energy-saving measures such as cutting electricity use at power plants, advancing an artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution for forecasting fuel unit costs, and expanding renewable energy facilities by using idle land at office buildings.
KEPCO President Kim Dong-cheol said, "We are facing an economic wartime situation, such as the elevation of the resource security crisis alert," and added, "KEPCO and the power group companies will take the lead in implementing the government's strong energy-saving measures, and through close cooperation among the group companies, let's turn the national energy crisis into an opportunity for a sustainable energy transition."