December (Nampo) power station — North Korea

December (Nampo) power station is a 200 MW coal power station in P'yongan-namdo, North Korea. It ranks #19 of 36 North Korea power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1996, it is around 30 years old — long-established. In context, coal supplies about 34.1% of North Korea's electricity; the national grid averages 341 gCO₂/kWh (63.4% low-carbon) (2024).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1019828.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

At 200 MW, December (Nampo) power station is around the median coal plant in North Korea (200 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Its current lifecycle status is “Mothballed” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #9 largest coal power plant of 18 in North Korea by capacity.

North Korea has 18 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 6,203 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Unbong · Hydro · 400 MW · Hwanghae-bukto
• December 12th Power plant · Coal · 100 MW · P'yongan-namdo
• East Pyongyang power station · Coal · 500 MW · Pyongyang
• Pyongyang power station · Coal · 700 MW · Pyongyang
• Sariwon · Coal · 200 MW · Hwanghae-bukto
• River Changja · Hydro · 81 MW · Hwanghae-namdo

Location

Coordinates 38.7285, 125.4161 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions