Two KEPCO units shut power plants due to oil price
SEOUL, April 9 - Two power generators of state-run Korea Electric Power Corp said on Wednesday they had temporarily shut six oil-fired power plants due to high oil prices and had increased the use of natural gas instead.
South Korean power firms, mostly KEPCO's thermal power units, have increasingly turned to the use of relatively cheaper natural gas since the government lifted on March 15 restrictions on gas use due to tight supplies of natural gas during the winter.
Korea Western Power Co shut on March 30 four oil-fired power plants at its Pyongtaek power station, each with a capacity of 350 megawatts (MW), because of high prices of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), Lee Woon-jae, an official at the firm's fuel procurement division, told Reuters.
He said the company might not restart them before June.
"We have shut the plants because oil, particularly LSFO, is more expensive than gas and also demand is usually weak in spring," Lee said.
Korea Western ran the Pyongtaek station at about 83 percent of capacity between December last year and March, he said.
Another KEPCO unit, Korea East-West Power Co, said earlier on Wednesday it had shut two of its three LSFO-fired power plants, each with a capacity of 200 MW, at its Ulsan power station last weekend for an indefinite period for the same reason.
The company may delay restarting another LSFO-fired power plant, which was slated for April 16, after about two months of regular maintenance.
"We shut the two plants because of high LSFO prices, and will use more MSFO (medium-sulphur fuel oil) and natural gas to meet demand," Kim Dae-hwan, an official at the firm's fuel procurement division, told Reuters.
Korea East-West is running two of its MSFO-fired plants at full capacity, he said. The power company plans to restart on April 21 another MSFO-fired power plant which was shut in March due to technical problems, Kim added.
Korea East-West skipped a tender to buy 60,000 tonnes of LSFO for May delivery, and it was unclear over the fate its June tender, he said.
Korea Western Power does not import LSFO, but sources its needs through local oil refiners under term contracts. |
