Coal power plant in Jeollabuk-do, South Korea. Approximate location 35.9379, 126.5661.
CoalJeollabuk-doSouth KoreasubcriticalCO₂ modelled
Saemangeum CHP power station is a 304 MW coal power station in Jeollabuk-do, South Korea. It is operated by OCI SE Co Ltd. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 380k homes (estimated). It ranks #99 of 216 South Korea power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2016, it is around 10 years old — relatively modern. Its modelled annual emissions are 1,365,000 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 318k cars driven for a year. 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 CT-5430.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
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 L100000103473); fuel: Climate TRACE source-record fuel
At 304 MW, Saemangeum CHP power station is below the median coal plant in South Korea (400 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. 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.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; modelled emissions from Climate TRACE.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by OCI SE Co Ltd.
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 35.9°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 1% 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: 50/100 — 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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness 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 #23 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 35.9379, 126.5661 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Saemangeum CHP power station is a 304 MW source-record coal power plant in Jeollabuk-do, South Korea, commissioned in 2016.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 380,434 homes (estimated).
Saemangeum CHP power station is operated by OCI SE Co Ltd.
Saemangeum CHP power station has modelled emissions of about 1,365,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).
