North Korea is known to have completed the Hoeyang County People's Power Plant, a small hydropower plant in Hoeyang County, Kangwon Province. It is to address chronic power shortages.
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 21st that a completion ceremony for the Hoeyang County People's Power Plant was held the previous day with the attendance of Kim Jong-un, North Korea's state affairs commission chairperson.
In a speech at the completion ceremony, the chairperson said, "This is a valuable achievement that Kangwon Province has made in solving the power issue," and "I offer warm words of encouragement to the powerful conquerors of nature."
The chairperson went on to say, "It is truly remarkable that Kangwon Province, which has a relatively smaller population and a weaker industrial base than other provinces, completed it with its own strength."
Korean Central News Agency explained, "Following the Ichon, Munchon, Sepo, Pyeonggang, and Goseong County People's Power Plants, the newly completed Hoeyang County People's Power Plant is the last construction target among the six hydropower plants for which Kangwon Province has devoted its full efforts."
The plant built in Hoeyang County is a small hydropower plant, which North Korea refers to as a small or medium-small hydropower plant. It produces electricity by using a small flow of water and head. Generally, facilities with a capacity from 1,000 kW to 10 MW are considered small hydropower. Compared with large hydropower, it requires less land, has lower construction expense, and is said to have little impact on the ecosystem.
North Korea is focusing on small hydropower at the provincial level because the farther from Pyongyang, the more difficult the power situation becomes, seriously disrupting industrial operations and residents' daily lives.
According to the Unification Ministry's North Korea Information Portal, as of 2021, North Korea's power generation facility capacity stands at 8,225,000 kW, or 6.1% of South Korea's 134,020,000 kW. Its generated electricity is also only 25.5 billion kWh (kilowatt-hours), 4.4% of South Korea's.
The Hoeyang County People's Power Plant first appeared by name in the Workers' Newspaper, the organ of the North's ruling party, on June 20, 2016, suggesting the construction has been underway for at least nine years. It is presumed to have taken a long time because it was built at the provincial level without financial or manpower support from the central government.