A North Korean town on the border with China is no longer completely dark at night, satellite images and eyewitness accounts have revealed. Experts told Radio Free Asia that it was a sign that North Korea was turning to solar power to solve its chronic energy problems.
“Just ten years ago, vehicle traffic stopped around midnight and the lights were barely visible,” Park Jongchol, a professor at Gyeongsang National University in South Korea, told RFA.
Park recently visited the Chinese city of Dandong, located across the border from North Korea’s Yalu River and Sinuiju. The bridge connecting the two cities is the main gateway for land trade between the two countries, and tourists often visit the Chinese side of the river to get a glimpse of one of the most isolated societies in the world.
For decades, the two banks of the river contrasted sharply at night. Dandong was flooded with neon lights, then LED signs, well-lit streets and apartment buildings with lit windows. But Sinuiju was completely dark, except for illuminated statues or portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s father and grandfather, who were his predecessors.
Power shortages are so widespread in North Korea that in some places the lights come on for only a few hours a day. Pyongyang was so bothered by the contrast with China that in 2021 it ordered that Sinuiju be supplied with electricity until 10 p.m. to mask the severity of the country’s shortages. However, after 10 o’clock the city would virtually disappear to anyone looking across the river from Dandong.
“But now Sinuiju is very bright – there are apartment buildings and factories with their lights on from night to morning,” said Park, who was in Dandong in early June, ahead of Chinese President Xi’s visit to North Korea.
Park said that during his three-day trip, he visited parts of Dandong across the river, rural villages far from downtown Sinuiju, and even those were illuminated. He also described a notable increase in automobile traffic at the border, whose headlights are visible at night.
“Sinuiju built North Korea’s largest solar power plant, and areas like Wihwa Island are now very bright at night,” he said, referring to a small island in the Yalu, upstream from the bustling city center.
Dramatic transformation
Nighttime satellite images captured at 1:30 a.m. on June 10 by the Suomi Nuclear Power Plant satellite — operated jointly by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — also detected bright lights in Sinuiju, Bruce Songhak Chung, a senior researcher at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Security Strategy, told RFA.
“In particular, the Sangdan-ri and Hadan-ri areas of Wihwa Island, which are traditionally dark at night, were detected bright,” Chung said. “It appears that the lights are used at the Sinuiju Greenhouse Agricultural Complex to promote plant growth and increase crop yields during the night.”
Satellite images confirm the presence of the large solar and wind power plant mentioned by Park.
Construction of the plant began in 2019. It currently spans 1,300 meters (4,300 feet). Next to the solar power plant are small wind turbines. The combined capacity of the plant is 1,000 kilowatts according to North Korean state media. This is enough to power approximately 1,000 to 1,500 homes in developed countries at peak performance.
Solar boom
In the past, North Korean cities along the border relied heavily on hydropower, but aging infrastructure often failed to ensure a stable electricity supply. Solar energy appears to be stepping in to solve this problem.
The newly installed solar panels are visible not only in Sinuiju but also in other cities, as well as in rural communities, mining areas and isolated mountain villages along the border, Joung Eunlee, director of the Seoul-based Korea Institute for National Unification, told RFA.
“After traveling along the China-North Korea border for more than 15 years, I have observed a significant increase in the number of solar panels installed in factories, office buildings, military installations and customs offices in major border cities,” Joung said. “I have also noticed an increasing number of apartment buildings equipped with outdoor air conditioning units, either legally or illegally imported from China. »
Satellite images also confirm a boom in solar installations that accelerated after 2018 and continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly at factories and state-owned enterprises. Likewise, solar panels are popping up in hospitals, government offices, military installations, cultural venues, hotels and restaurants in Pyongyang and other cities.
Renewable Initiative
As North Korea seeks to modernize its economy and raise its standard of living, access to a more reliable electricity supply is becoming increasingly important.
To this end, the North Korean government enacted its Renewable Energy Law in 2013 and has since incorporated renewable energy development into its 2016 and 2021 five-year national economic plans.
Several large-scale solar projects are currently under construction or have recently been completed across the country. On June 19, North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun continued to highlight the need to expand the use of renewable energy sources, including wind, tidal and solar power.
Park said the trend toward renewable energy could indicate a broader long-term shift in North Korea’s industrial structure.
Joung said the country was rapidly expanding its renewable energy industry and its close relationship with China was an integral part of that expansion.
China accounted for about 75% of global solar module production and has become the leading supplier of low-cost, high-performance components and equipment. Over the past 15 years, the price of solar modules and their installation has fallen by about 95%, while efficiency has continued to improve, she added.
But even as North Korea turns to solar power, the gains are uneven.
“Even though nighttime satellite images show brighter lights in some border towns, including Sinuiju, many parts of North Korea remain in darkness because they still have no access to electricity,” Joung said. “It will also be important to monitor whether the gap between regions continues to widen. »
Edited by Eugene Whong.