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| ▲ This image, captured from the Korean Central Television on Dec. 11, 2023, shows a solar power plant in North Korea. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
N Korea-electricity
N. Korea drums up renewable energy use amid sanctions-caused electricity shortage
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is drumming up the utilization of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, local media showed Monday, as the country faces a chronic shortage of fuel and electricity amid continuing international sanctions.
The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper ran an article introducing a pickled seafood processing factory in Unryul County, South Hwanghae Province, as a model case of utilizing natural energy sources.
The newspaper said the region had solar and wind power plants constructed at the instruction of leader Kim Jong-un, who visited the area in 2015, with the solar power facility housing about 11,000 solar panels.
The Rodong Sinmun touted that the facilities, which combine solar and wind power stations, overcome days with insufficient sunlight by switching to wind power generation to produce electricity.
The paper also reported that the regional power stations generate enough electricity to power factories and supply surplus electricity to the homes of factory employees, as well as to the national power grid.
"Since the factory began operations, we have not known such a thing as an electricity shortage to this day," a factory manager was quoted as saying.
The emphasis on reliance on renewable energy appears to be related to North Korea's chronic electricity shortage, caused by international sanctions limiting fuel imports.
South Korea's statistics agency said electricity generation by North Korea reached 25.3 billion kilowatt hours in 2024, only 4.2 percent of what South Korea generated that year.
In an effort to combat electricity shortages, North Korea adopted a renewable energy act in 2013, promoting the use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.
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