Coal power plant in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. Approximate location 37.2369, 126.4361.
CoalChungcheongnam-doSouth KoreasupercriticalCO₂ modelled
Yeongheung is a 5,080 MW coal power station in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea. It is operated by Korea South East Power (KOSEP). Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 6.4 million homes (estimated). It ranks #5 of 216 South Korea power plants by installed capacity. Its modelled annual emissions are 17,620,000 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 4.1 million 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 WRI1000187.
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 L100000103466); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 5,080 MW, Yeongheung is well above the median coal plant in South Korea (400 MW). Technically it is described as supercritical. 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 Korea South East Power (KOSEP). 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 37.2°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 15% 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: 58/100 — 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 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 #3 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 37.2369, 126.4361 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Yeongheung is a 5,080 MW source-record coal power plant in Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, planned/announced for 2034.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 6,357,257 homes (estimated).
Yeongheung is operated by Korea South East Power (KOSEP).
Yeongheung has modelled emissions of about 17,620,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).
