KEPCO and five of its affiliates held an emergency conference last week at KEPCO Art Center in Seocho District, where high-ranking officials discussed steps to combat fine dust problems in the country. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, May 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) announced plans last Friday to reduce emissions of fine dust particles from its coal-fired power plants in South Korea by 50 percent over the next five years.
KEPCO and five of its affiliates held an emergency conference last week at KEPCO Art Center in Seocho District, where high-ranking officials discussed steps to combat fine dust problems in the country.
The executive boards reached a decision to pump a whopping 7.5 trillion won into curbing the amount of fine dust particles produced by coal-fired power plants, KEPCO said yesterday.
In 2015 alone, nearly 174,000 tons of fine dust were produced, and KEPCO aims to bring the figure down to 87,000 tons by 2022, 30 percent more than the target recommended by the government.
Each of KEPCO’s subsidiaries will revolutionize their environmental equipment and expand their capacity to measure fine dust levels, in order to record progress and present accurate information on fine dust emissions.
Of the 7.5 trillion won budget, 6.2 trillion won will be allocated to revitalizing environmental equipment at existing power plants, while 1.3 trillion won will be spent on improving those currently under construction.
Earlier this month, newly-elected president Moon Jae-in ordered a temporary shutdown of aged power plants in an effort to tackle the growing problem of fine dust in the country, with plans to close all 10 aged power plants permanently within his term.
Following the government’s proactive efforts to tackle fine dust problems, KEPCO will reduce its reliance on coal-fired power plants during the spring when fine dust problems hit the country the hardest, with a further temporary shutdown of power plants if fine dust levels continues to increase.
Another measure from KEPCO to combat fine dust will see its partners opt for environment-friendly coal that has high power generating efficiency with lower fine dust emissions.
KEPCO’s comprehensive anti-fine dust efforts will begin in South Chungcheong Province, where many coal-fired plants are located.
M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
