Consumption soars to record amid deep chill , fueling power shortage concerns The government is introducing a series of contingency measures to cut power consumption as the cold spell drives up electricity demand to record levels . With the cold snap gripping the nation , even in the warmer southern regions , electricity demand has shot up , setting new records three times already this month . On Monday , the country ’ s electricity demand shot up to greater than 7 . 3 million kilowatt hours , breaking the previous record set on Jan . 10 , which was about 400 , 000 kilowatt higher than the record of Jan 7 . With the rise in consumption , Korea ’ s generating capacity is being pushed to its limits , fueling concerns of a power shortage . On Monday , the country ’ s reserve capacity was pushed down to 5 . 5 percent , far short of the 10 percent line considered to provide a sufficient buffer for times of high demand such as the summer and winter months . The temperature registers at 17 degrees Celsius at a district office in Ulsan on Tuesday . ( Yonhap News ) In addition , a power cut that occurred at an industrial complex in Yeosu , South Jeolla Province on Monday is fuelling worries that the surge in demand could lead to similar incidences in other such complexes . On Monday , power to the complex was cut for about 20 minutes . While power was out for a relatively short period of time , damages sustained by companies operating in the area , including the refiner GS Caltex , are estimated to run into tens if not hundreds of billions of won . As such , related issues have become a topic of urgent discussion at the highest level of government . “ It is important to carry out energy - saving measures in response to high oil prices and rapidly rising electricity consumption , ” President Lee Myung - bak said at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday . He added that a policy that has been established once needs to form the basis for the next , and therefore efforts must be made to become more efficient in saving energy this year using the experience of related measures from last year . Lee also urged concerned government bodies to closely monitor the execution of related measures and firmly establish such practices . On Monday , the government announced emergency plans to cut energy consumption that limits the temperature to 18 degrees Celsius at all government buildings . The measure also prohibits the use of personal electric heaters , and calls for heaters to be switched off from 11 a . m . to midday , and then again from 5 p . m . until 6 p . m . Similar measures that prohibit temperatures from exceeding 20 degrees Celsius will also be applied to 441 large buildings including department and discount stores from Jan . 24 . In addition , the interval between subway trains will be increased by 1 to 3 minutes between 10 a . m . and midday . The Ministry of Land , Transport and Maritime Affairs is in charge of measures regarding subway trains , which will be implemented according to changes in electricity consumption . However , such measures are temporary and will not be able to provide a fundamental solution to a problem arising year after year during both the coldest and hottest months . Although the government has revealed plans to massively increase Korea ’ s generating capacity , it may be some time before the country will be able to put concerns over power shortages completely behind it . According to the government ’ s electricity supply plan , 49 trillion won ( $ 44 billion ) will be injected into increasing the country ’ s generating capacity to 112 . 59 gigawatts by 2024 , up nearly 56 percent from 2009 ’ s capacity of 72 . 26 gigawatts . Over the period the government expects electricity consumption to grow at an annual average of 1 . 9 percent to reach 551 . 6 billion kilowatt hours in 2024 from 423 . 8 billion kilowatt hours recorded last year . While the country will have a more - than - sufficient reserve capacity of 18 . 2 percent by the end of the plan , the figure will remain below 10 percent at least until 2014 , leaving the country open to repeats of this winter . By Choi He - suk ( cheesuk @ heraldm . com )