Coal power plant in P'yongan-bukto, North Korea. Approximate location 40.0707, 124.5524.
CoalP'yongan-buktoNorth Korea
River Chongchon is a 200 MW coal power station in P'yongan-bukto, North Korea. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 250k homes (estimated). It ranks #21 of 36 North Korea power plants by installed capacity. 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 WRI1019829.
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 200 MW, River Chongchon is around the median coal plant in North Korea (200 MW). 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).
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a monsoon hot-summer continental climate (Köppen Dwa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 40.1°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 48% above 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: 79/100 — this site sits in the top 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 thermal cycling 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 #11 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.
Coordinates 40.0707, 124.5524 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
River Chongchon is a 200 MW source-record coal power plant in P'yongan-bukto, North Korea.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 250,285 homes (estimated).
