S.Korea’s power plant operator sees record loss in first half of year

SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Xinhua/APP): South Korea’s state-run power plant operator hit a record operating loss in the first half of this year due to higher fuel costs, the company said Friday.

The Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) posted an operating loss of 14.3 trillion won (11 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, after logging an operating loss of 187.3 billion won (143.7 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of last year.

The operating loss reached a record high of 7.8 trillion won (6 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, before reducing to 6.5 trillion won (5 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter.

A surge in energy costs, driven by geopolitical risks and supply chain disruptions, sharply raised the operating cost of the KEPCO.

Revenue gained 11.5 percent over the year to 32 trillion won (24.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half, while operating cost surged 60.3 percent to 46.3 trillion won (35.5 billion U.S. dollars).

The KEPCO was forecast to demand a hike in electricity rates and put upward pressure on the already high inflation.

The country’s consumer prices spiked 6.3 percent in July from a year earlier, marking the fastest in almost 24 years.