[CC Cloumn] A Power Grid in Crisis: New Design Strategies for a Climate-Driven and AI-Powered Future
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Heewon Seo (Policy Research Team Manager), Eunyoung Kim (Researcher)
1. The Dual Threat of Heatwaves to the Power Grid
In August 2025, South Korea faced a historic heatwave, with temperatures soaring above 35°C for days on end. Some Seoul subway stations approached 40°C, turning into stifling hot zones. The surge in cooling demand, coupled with the growing number of life-sustaining infrastructures—hospitals, subways, nursing homes, and data centers—has exposed the country's deep reliance on uninterrupted electricity. As electrification and digitalization accelerate across society, extreme heat has become both a climate crisis and a grid crisis.
Experts warn that this is not merely a weather issue but a complex disaster that severely strains infrastructure. At the 2025 Seoul Climate-Energy Summit (CESS 2025), Jaegul Lee, a team leader at Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO)’s Power System Research Center, noted, “Wildfires pose the greatest threat to Korea’s power grid.” He warned that compound weather events—heatwaves, droughts, and high winds—threaten transmission lines and substations. A wildfire in March 2025 in southeastern Korea knocked out 16 transmission lines and damaged major substations, leaving about 90,000 households without electricity. Had this occurred during peak summer demand, the disaster would have been far worse.
2. The Triple Risk: Climate Disaster, Transmission Bottlenecks, and Demand Concentration
Around the world, climate disasters are increasingly disrupting power grids and generation systems—and Korea faces similar vulnerabilities. The convergence of climate impacts, aging infrastructure, and spatially unbalanced demand reveals the limits of a centralized system and points to the need for decentralized and resilient grid redesign.
[Global Cases] Grid Disruptions from Climate Stress
Michael Webber of the University of Texas at Austin emphasized, “Power grids were designed for past climates, but we are now living in a different climate era.” BloombergNEF similarly found that climate change, renewable energy growth, and rising cooling demand are intensifying grid pressure :
- France & Switzerland, Summer 2025 : River temperatures exceeded ecosystem safety thresholds → three nuclear power plants shut down.
- The Balkans, June 2024 : Wildfires and grid overload caused blackouts in Bosnia, Albania, and Croatia.
- Kuwait, June 2024 : Temperatures above 50°C → rolling blackouts → life-threatening situations like elevator shutdowns and loss of cooling.
- California, USA, September 2022 : Solar output plunged after sunset as cooling demand peaked → CAISO issued a Flex Alert, urging residents to conserve power in the evening.
- Texas, USA, Winter 2021 : Deep freeze froze natural gas supply chains → massive blackouts.
[Korean Cases] Grid Infrastructure Under Strain
South Korea’s centralized energy system is under mounting pressure from both climate disasters and the ongoing energy transition. While power demand is heavily concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, the transmission network is predominantly built around regional supply sources—such as Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gangwon-do, and Chungcheong-do—deepening systemic bottlenecks. Natural disasters, especially those exacerbated by climate change, are causing physical damage to grid infrastructure—revealing the urgent need for distributed, climate-resilient power systems.
- Wildfires in Southeastern Korea, March 2025 :
ㆍ16 transmission lines shut down, substation damage → large-scale blackout
ㆍ 7.64 million tons of CO₂ emissions → increased fire risk → repeated damage to grid
- Rising seawater temperatures (2024–2025) :
ㆍConcerns over cooling water temperatures for 8 nuclear reactors (Shin-Wolsong, Hanbit, Shin-Kori) exceeding safety thresholds
ㆍReactor shutdowns may be required within hours if limits are breached → even base-load power is vulnerable to climate risk
3. The Bottleneck of Institutions and Public Acceptance: A Growing Gap Between Tech Demand and Grid Reality
With global competition to secure AI infrastructure heating up, power demand in Seoul metropolitan area is growing rapidly. However, physical grid constraints, land-use regulations, institutional hurdles, and lack of community acceptance are widening the gap between technological needs and available infrastructure.
High-tech industries like AI research and data centers in the capital region are facing operational challenges due to power supply limits. Stakeholders note that “While generation capacity may be sufficient, transmission infrastructure often fails to align with demand concentrations.” This imbalance, coupled with the intermittent nature of renewables, regional mismatches between supply and demand, and uneven transmission infrastructure, poses a structural risk to grid flexibility and stability.
- Power Supply-Demand Mismatch :
ㆍSeoul’s energy self-sufficiency rate: in the 10% range vs. Gyeongsangbuk-do: over 200% → deepening regional disparity
ㆍAI research labs at Seoul National and Korea University had to pause operations due to limited power supply
ㆍData center demand in the capital region is surging, but regional-based transmission lines are bottlenecked
ㆍGrid Impact Assessment System (introduced in 2024 by Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea) evaluates “local contribution” and “regional development” → restricts capital-area siting and KEPCO suspends new supply to data centers in Seoul for grid stability
- Infrastructure Conflicts and Public Trust :
ㆍResidents oppose the second-stage HVDC project in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province → concerns include health risks, lack of transparency, falling property values, and inadequate pre-consultation
ㆍTransmission projects like the Miryang towers were delayed 4 years; the Donghae–Gapyong HVDC project is over 7 years behind → KEPCO estimates annual losses of 800 billion KRW
4. Strategic Response : Now Is the Time to Redesign for Survival
As highlighted at CESS 2025, Korea must go beyond supply planning and instead design infrastructure that endures climate shocks, sustains industrial growth, and embraces regional equity. Wildfires, heatwaves, supply bottlenecks, and social conflicts all expose the structural flaws in our legacy grid system. This moment calls for energy policies grounded in resilience, fairness, strategic siting, and credible demand forecasting.
- Design Climate-Resilient Power Grids :
ㆍPhysical resilience to wildfires, heatwaves, and cold spells
ㆍTechnical reinforcement to mitigate transmission efficiency losses and voltage instability under extreme heat
- Ensure Local Acceptance and Genuine Energy Decentralization :
ㆍConsider differentiated electricity pricing for hosting regions of power infrastructure
ㆍDevelop decentralized, locally integrated data centers outside the capital
ㆍStrengthen fiscal and institutional support for local energy self-reliance (production and consumption in the same region)
- Transmission Is a National Strategy, Not Just a Technical Tool :
ㆍUnderground cables and high-voltage expansion are now part of industrial and climate policy
ㆍAccelerate East Coast–Capital Region transmission line and address social opposition in parallel
- Correct Overstated and False Demand :
ㆍFrom 2020 to 2023, 67.7% of power applications by data centers were unused → caused by speculative overestimation
ㆍShift to detailed forecasting that considers project phase, operator track records, and actual utilization
ㆍAvoid panic-driven policies around AI electricity demand—focus on realistic, efficiency-based planning
5. Conclusion: Climate-Resilient Grid Reform as a Pillar of National Transformation
As underscored by the extreme heat events of August 2025, the power grid is no longer merely technical infrastructure—it constitutes a critical foundation for public health, industrial continuity, and social resilience.
In this context, President Lee Jae-myung’s economic reform initiative to establish a 100-trillion KRW “National Strategic Fund (국민펀드)” marks a significant policy shift. The fund is designed to channel investment toward high-potential sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy, while advancing balanced regional development.
Moving forward, Korea must prioritize :
▲power infrastructure that is adaptive to climate stress,
▲socially accepted and strategically located transmission systems,
▲demand forecasting frameworks rooted in operational reality.
How Korea responds to the convergence of climate disaster and digital transformation—beginning with the power grid—will shape not only its economic trajectory but also the resilience and equity of its society.
