Solar power is making progress in North Korea's electricity sector as residents look to install panels to power lights, at least in part, as the regime does not provide electricity to its citizens and prioritizes electricity for factories.
North Korea is under sanctions and banned from importing petroleum products and imports from China and Russia, and is said to be active in smuggling petroleum products and exporting coal. The country has long relied on aging coal- and oil-fired power plants, as well as hydroelectric power from facilities built decades ago with Soviet assistance.
Hydroelectric power continues to generate most of North Korea's renewable energy, but the country appears to have "realized the benefits of renewable energy in the mid-2000s," said Martin Williams, senior fellow at the think tank. said. , DC Center. He works mainly on the North 38 project in North Korea, he wrote earlier this year .
There are claims in North Korea that the country has assembled solar panels from solar cells, but it is not clear whether the cells are manufactured locally or imported, according to Williams. Related: Oil growth in Suriname is back on track as new discoveries excite investors
North Korean defectors told Natalia Slavny, a research analyst at the Stimson Center and one of the editors of 38 North, that private solar installations exploded as residents tried to secure themselves in the face of a "shortage of electricity " provided by the state.
"Despite alternative forms of energy - such as diesel power and illegal connections - the solution for many people is solar panels," Slavny wrote in May.
Interviews with defectors, as well as state media KPRK and satellite images, indicate an increase in private solar installations over the past decade, as many citizens appear to have given up expecting the government to provide sufficient and sustainable electricity and adopted a "do it" yourself" policy. He came closer. He added, "Their attitude to life."
Solar panels are small but produce enough energy to provide at least 100 watts each night and power small equipment.
A defector told 38 North that North Koreans, who hold government and party posts and receive more money, use illegal power grids connected to industrial power supplies. Others living in rural areas have access to electricity only a few days a year , on New Year's Eve, on national holidays and on days celebrating the birthdays of North Korean leaders.
Therefore, for many North Koreans, solar power has become a way to obtain electricity to power certain appliances at night, if it is a sunny day, so that solar batteries can be recharged.
"The fact that North Koreans have purchased and installed solar panels in their homes illustrates not only the challenges they face, but also the initiative they have shown to replace basic services that the state has failed to provide ,” he said. Stimson Center. Financial Time .
Solar power is estimated to make up about 7 percent of North Korea's electricity supply, according to a report released earlier this year by the Seoul-based Korea Institute of Energy Economics.
According to the report, North Korean households have installed about 2.88 million solar panels since 2009, most of which were imported from China. According to a South Korea Institute report, about 1.63 million solar panels were purchased from China between 2009 and March 2018, indicating that an additional 1.25 million solar panels were smuggled into North Korea.
"Insufficient and unstable energy supply is one of the key challenges that North Korea is trying to overcome," Slavny wrote for 38 North in May.
"While solar power offers society a way to better cope with this reality, it is unable to provide enough energy to meet our daily operations and needs."
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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