Home / Asia / South Korea / Gwangyang Works

Gwangyang Works

Gas power plant in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. Approximate location 34.9105, 127.7424.

GasJeollanam-doSouth KoreaCO₂ modelled

Gwangyang Works is a 830 MW gas power station in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. It is operated by POSCO. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 935k homes (estimated). It ranks #52 of 216 South Korea power plants by installed capacity. Its modelled annual emissions are 2,506,400 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 584k cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 27.9% of South Korea's electricity; the national grid averages 417 gCO₂/kWh (40.0% low-carbon) (2025).

830Source-backed capacity
934,817homes powered (est.)
2,506,400t CO₂ / yr (Climate TRACE)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1029893.

Data status

Known data

FacilityGwangyang Works WRI
CountrySouth Korea · Jeollanam-do WRI
Coordinates34.9105, 127.7424 WRI
FuelGas WRI
MW installed capacity830 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerPOSCO WRI

Modelled source data

CO₂ emissions2,506,400 t CO₂/yr modelled · Climate TRACE

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#52 of 216 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#28 of 77 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers1.61× · 515 MW median · 77 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent934,817 calculated
Climate13.7°C · HDD 2,178 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC4 · 44/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

CommissionedNot available not in dataset
TechnologyNot available not in dataset
GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 284 MW for Gwangyang steelworks power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Capacity claim grade: D_REJECT_KEEP_MASTER - recommended action: keep_master - confidence: rejected_candidate. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.

Data provenance

The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.

capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000406316); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 830 MW, Gwangyang Works is well above the median gas plant in South Korea (515 MW). Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.

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

~2,506,400 t CO₂/yr (modelled) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

584kpassenger cars driven for a year
327khomes' yearly energy use
42 milliontree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; modelled emissions from Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest gas plants in South Korea

Incheon: 3,052 MW3kIncheonDangjin Combined Cycle power station: 2,406 MW2kDangjin Co…Samchonpo power station: 2,120 MW2kSamchonpo …KOMIPO Incheon: 1,960 MW2kKOMIPO Inc…Boryeong (CC): 1,800 MW2kBoryeong (…Busan (pusan): 1,800 MW2kBusan (pus…Seoincheon: 1,800 MW2kSeoincheonShinincheon: 1,800 MW2kShinincheon

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by POSCO. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate (Köppen Cwa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

13.7°Cannual mean temp
2,178heating degree-days (base 18°C)
616cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
111 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 3 °CFM: 7 °CMA: 13 °CAM: 17 °CMJ: 21 °CJJ: 24 °CJA: 26 °CAS: 22 °CSO: 16 °CON: 10 °CND: 4 °CD26 °C

Heating degree-days here run 11% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 46/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

Site climate & environmental severity

For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with marine corrosion the leading environmental stress.

C4ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
44/100environmental-severity index
23.7°Cseasonal temperature swing
17 kmdistance to coast

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #28 largest gas power plant of 77 in South Korea by capacity.

South Korea has 77 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 58,006 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 34.9105, 127.7424 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Gwangyang Works?

Gwangyang Works is a 830 MW source-record gas power plant in Jeollanam-do, South Korea.

How many homes can Gwangyang Works power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 934,817 homes (estimated).

Who operates Gwangyang Works?

Gwangyang Works is operated by POSCO.

How much CO₂ does Gwangyang Works emit?

Gwangyang Works has modelled emissions of about 2,506,400 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.