Bugok II Power Plant, Dangjin County, South Korea

Owner/Operator: GS Electric Power and Service Co.

Angela Neville, JD

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South Korea is steadily muscling its way into the big league when it comes to leading world economies: It currently ranks 13th. The country, which is officially known as the Republic of Korea, experienced exponential economic growth during the last half of the 20th century. According to U.S. Central Intelligence Agency statistics in The World Factbook, the nation’s per capita gross domestic product grew from only $100 in 1963 to $24,600 in 2007.

Ramping up

In order to maintain breakneck economic growth rates, South Korean industrial and commercial sectors--which include the global giants Samsung and Hyundai--must have an increasingly larger reliable supply of electricity.

With a population estimated at 48,456,000 in mid-2007, the nation has had to maximize its generation of electricity for residential as well as industrial and commercial uses. According to the latest energy outlook report, Energy Info Korea-2008, which was compiled by the Korean Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), in 2007 the annual consumption of electricity was 7,607 kWh per capita. The report notes that in 2007 electricity use by sector broke down as follows: industrial--50.5%, residential/commercial--42.6%, public and others--6.2%, and transportation--0.7%.

The KEEI report also states that last year South Korean power plants generated a total of 403,207 GWh of electricity. In 1997, just 10 years earlier, the total was about half that amount: 224,446 GWh. In 2007, generation sources and amounts were: 5,056 GWh hydro, 177,511 GWh steam, 77,129 GWh combined cycle, 577 GWh internal combustion, and 142,934 GW nuclear. This translates into 38.3% for coal, 35.4 % for nuclear, 19.6% for liquefied natural gas, 5.3% for heavy oil, 1.3% for hydro, and 0.1% for diesel.

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