K-water NEWS
K-water NEWS
1
Emergency Meeting for Facility Inspection and a High-Alert Response System In Place ahead of the Flood Season
With follow-up heavy rainfalls in the forecast, proactive responses are becoming increasingly important. K-water has been focusing its efforts on proactively responding to floods by tripling the design flood control capacity of its multi-purpose dams from 2.18 tons to 6.1 tons. As a stationary front has been lingering since early July, causing damages across the country, K-water remains flexible and proactive in responding to follow-up rainfalls.
In this context, K-water convened a meeting on July 10 to review the facilities and flood preparedness of major dams across the country, assess their responses to localized torrential rains, and actively implement measures to assist flood victims and affected communities. At the meeting, K-water reviewed the amounts of rainfall and discharges at major dams, responses by individual basins and damages to their facilities, as well as progress in damage repair. The review focused particularly on responses in the border areas, including the water level in Imjingang River and results of satellite data analysis. Moreover, K-water carefully reviewed future weather forecasts and analyzed the need for cooperation with other organizations.
In a similar vein, K-water ordered that all employees be on higher alert as part of efforts to raise the level of preparedness for follow-up rainfalls. It deployed 194 employees across 98 divisions on 24-hour duty nationwide to monitor rainfall and downstream water levels in real time. Furthermore, a command center was set up for each individual river basin to strengthen the field-based flexible response system.
2
K-water and Cambodia Will Step Up Cooperation in Water, Energy and Urban Development Projects
K-water and Cambodia are stepping up bilateral cooperation with focus on water, energy and urban development. On July 18, K-water president Yoon Seog-dae and Chring Botumrangsay, the Cambodian ambassador to Korea, met to discuss an action plan and specific ways of cooperation in the aforementioned three areas. At the meeting with the Prime Minister of Cambodia, K-water suggested the project titled “Integrated National Water Management and New Prosperity,”to help Cambodia cope with water shortages and set the direction for strategic urban development. K-water is reviewing a plan to integrate the project into its Water-Energy-City package, which combines the construction of water pipe infrastructure connecting major basins for effective flood and water flow control in Cambodia, the Osra Small Hydro Power Generation Project, and the Phnom Penh Urban Development Project. The two parties are expected to further strengthen their cooperation in order to ensure the smooth implementation of water-related bilateral cooperation projects, including the Masterplan for the Construction of Cambodia’s Nationwide Water Resources Infrastructure and the creation of a smart water management system for the city of Phnom Penh, which are currently under way.
3
Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Imha Dam Floating Solar Power Integration Complex
The Imha Floating Solar Power Plant will be the largest in size of all floating solar power facilities built at multi-purpose dams in Korea. The first step in the construction of the plant has been taken recently. On July 24, K-water together with the city of Andong and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. held the groundbreaking ceremony for Imha Dam Floating Solar Power Integration Complex. Designated as the first new renewable energy integration complex in 2021, the complex with a capacity of 47.2MW will be built in Andong-myeon and Imha-myeon, Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The construction will begin in July, with commercial power supply soon to follow. Once completed, the facility with an annual average capable of 61,670MWh is expected to supply electricity for domestic use to some 22,000 households in Andong City. Particularly, local residents will get involved in the energy supply process as profit-sharing investors, making this project an instrument for K-water to give back to the community and promote sustainability and shared growth.
4
Vision-Sharing Ceremony for Daecheong Dam Hydrothermal Energy-Specialized Complex
On July 3, K-water, Chungcheongbuk-do and Cheongju City held a vision-sharing ceremony to support the successful creation of Daecheongdam Hydrothermal Energy-Specialized Complex. The tenants of the complex located in Cheongju will include data centers, smart farms and industrial facilities. All the energy needed for the cooling of data centers in the complex will be supplied in the form of hydrothermal energy, thus maximizing energy savings. K-water is responsible for conducting a feasibility study on the project and making a framework plan. The three parties will work closely together to achieve the goals they have set, i.e., creating a hydrothermal energy-based eco-friendly cluster, building a future-oriented dispersion energy system ad attracting AI-leading, smart companies as tenants of the complex.
5
K-water and Sejong City Expand Cooperation for Response to Water Disasters.
On July 8, K-water and the city of Sejong signed an MOU at K-water’s headquarters in Daejeon to facilitate cooperation for digital technology-based smart response to natural disasters. The MOU aims to enhance cooperation for utilizing K-water’s AI-integrated, high-tech water management technology to help realize the city's vision of becoming a cutting-edge smart city. It also seeks to actively participate in implementing the central government’s Digital Platform Government initiative. Under the agreement, the city of Sejong will provide public facilities necessary for R&D and K-water will share its digital technology to help Daejeon improve its ability to respond to water disasters. Building upon the MOU, the two organizations plan to further expand their collaboration by identifying specific areas of cooperation.