Coal power plant in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. Approximate location 34.8545, 127.7351.
CoalJeollanam-doSouth KoreasubcriticalAnnounced
Honam is a 500 MW coal power station in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. It is operated by Korea East West Power. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 626k homes (estimated). It ranks #75 of 216 South Korea power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 31.1% of South Korea's electricity; the national grid averages 417 gCO₂/kWh (40.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1000210.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 500 MW, Honam is well above the median coal plant in South Korea (400 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Its current lifecycle status is “announced” — 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Korea East West Power. All plants by this company →
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. 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.
Monthly mean temperature
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.
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.
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.
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.
The #15 largest coal power plant of 34 in South Korea by capacity.
South Korea has 34 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 46,928 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 34.8545, 127.7351 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Honam is a 500 MW source-record coal power plant in Jeollanam-do, South Korea, planned/announced for 1973.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 625,714 homes (estimated).
Honam is operated by Korea East West Power.
