A residential complex in Yeongjong International City during the blackout on July 13. [Provided by reader]
A residential complex in Yeongjong International City during the blackout on July 13. [Provided by reader]

Korea Electric Power Corp. plans to strengthen the power grid serving Incheon's Yeongjong International City following a series of blackouts that left residents without electricity.

The utility will build a third underground transmission line to improve supply stability, while also pursuing a longer-term submarine tunnel transmission project.

According to People Power Party lawmaker Bae Jun-young, who represents Incheon's Jung-gu, Ganghwa-gun and Ongjin-gun, KEPCO will invest 35.4 billion won ($25 million) to construct a third underground transmission line connecting the Eulwang and Jungsan substations, with completion targeted by February next year.

To meet that deadline, KEPCO will operate on an emergency construction footing — streamlining design and procurement procedures and concentrating workers and materials on the project to finish ahead of schedule.

Once the third underground line is complete, it is expected to ease the load on the existing transmission network and significantly improve power supply reliability for Yeongjong International City.

KEPCO also plans to invest about 200 billion won in a submarine tunnel transmission project linking the Incheon Country Club substation to the Jungsan substation.

The project calls for two new transmission circuits directly connecting the Incheon mainland to Yeongjong. The key goal is to diversify a power supply system currently concentrated along the Incheon Bridge corridor, improving overall reliability.

Once the submarine tunnel line is in place, stable power delivery will remain possible even when faults occur on the existing network, further reinforcing Yeongjong International City's power infrastructure.

KEPCO plans to complete the third underground line in the near term while pursuing the submarine tunnel project over the medium to long term, building a resilient supply system capable of meeting the city's growing electricity demand.

A policy forum on Yeongjong power grid inspection and blackout prevention, held Thursday at the Yeongjong International City Cultural Center. [Provided by the office of Rep. Bae Jun-young]
A policy forum on Yeongjong power grid inspection and blackout prevention, held Thursday at the Yeongjong International City Cultural Center. [Provided by the office of Rep. Bae Jun-young]

On Thursday, Bae hosted a policy forum on Yeongjong power grid inspection and blackout prevention at the Yeongjong International City Cultural Center, where he discussed grid reinforcement and resident compensation with officials from the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy, KEPCO, Incheon Metropolitan City, Yeongjong District and the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority.

"I will monitor the budget and construction progress of the third transmission line and the submarine transmission project all the way through to ensure they are completed without a hitch," Bae said at the forum.

He added that he would take full responsibility for ensuring that Yeongjong residents affected by the blackouts receive fair compensation. "I will closely examine how other regions have handled similar cases so that our residents are not left with less favorable terms," he said.


gilbert@heraldcorp.com