NGA Tearline: North Korea's Hydroelectric Power - Part 1

North Korea is shifting toward smaller hydropower plants to improve efficiency.

What is NGA Tearline?

NGA is partnering with expert private groups to grow public-facing, authoritative open source intelligence on various strategic and humanitarian intelligence topics that tend to be under-reported within long-form format. This authoritative open source content will be cited for internal purposes and it will grow public trust by increasing transparency around shared public-private interest in various strategic and humanitarian intelligence topics that are fit for public consumption.

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Stimson Center (38 North)

For this report NGA Tearline collaborated with researchers from the Stimson Center. Co-authors include Peter Makowsky, Jenny Town, and Samantha Pitz.

Read more on 38 North.

Read the Report

While the construction of large hydroelectric power stations seemed a logical direction, North Korea’s extreme climate conditions—from freezing winter temperatures causing ice jams during the winter to recurring droughts with prolonged heat during the summer—have created significant problems for maintaining the consistent water flow necessary for these facilities to function at full capacity. As such, there has been a notable shift away from the large hydropower plants and projects toward the building of more efficient, tiered, small-to-medium-sized stations.

 

Read more of this intelligence report on Tearline.