South Korea's electricity consumption surged to a record high this summer on Tuesday as scorching temperatures caused people to rely heavily on air conditioners and other cooling devices.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said electricity demand set a new high of 55.89 million kilowatts at noon, then peaked three hours later at 56.16 million kilowatts.
The country has been gripped by a heat wave for over a week, with temperatures reaching 31.8 degrees Celsius in Seoul and 34.5 C in the southeastern city of Daegu on Tuesday.
Authorities said the peak demand was still below the nation's power generation capabilities of 62.85 million kilowatts. The country has the capacity to generate 64.50 kilowatts if the need arises, they added.
They said that despite the surge, the country's reserve capacity was calculated at 11.9 percent when consumption reached its peak, which is still higher than the 10 percent recommended by most power generating companies around the world.
Experts at the ministry and the Korea Electric Power Corp. predicted that peak power consumption may reach 58.08 million kilowatts in mid-August when industrial productivity returns to normal as many workers will return from their summer vacations this week.
Seoul, Aug. 8 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea's power consumption hits record high amid heat wave |
