Energy consumption in North Korea
The most important figure in the energy balance of North Korea is the total consumption of13.93 billion kWh
of electric energy per year. Per capita this is an average of 536 kWh.North Korea can completely be self-sufficient with domestically produced energy. The total production of all electric energy producing facilities is 16 bn kWh, also 115 percent of own requirements. The rest of the domestically produced energy is either exported into other countries or unused. Along with pure consumption, the production, imports and exports play an important role. Other energy sources, such as natural gas or crude oil are also used.
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Energy Balance
| Electricity | total | North Korea per capita | USA per capita |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own consumption | 13.93 bn kWh | 536.36 kWh | 11,744.38 kWh |
| Production | 16.08 bn kWh | 618.99 kWh | 12,198.66 kWh |
52.3% of the country's population (as of 2020) has access to electricity. In rural areas, the share was 67.2% | |||
CO₂ emissions
| CO₂ emissions in 2019 | North Korea per capita | USA per capita | |
|---|---|---|---|
| total | 56.04 m t | 2.18 t | 14.52 t |
| › of which diesel + gasoline | 3.21 bn t | 124.75 t | 7,179.51 t |
| › of which coal | 15.25 bn t | 592.19 t | 3,246.58 t |
Development of CO₂ emissions from 1960 to 2019 in million tons
See also: CO₂ equivalents by country
Production capacities per energy source
The given production capacities for electric energy have a theoretical value, which can only be obtained under ideal conditions. They are measuring the generatable amount of energy, that would be reached under permanent and full use of all capacities of all power plants.In practice this isn't possible, because e.g. solar collectors are less efficient under clouds. Also wind- and water-power plants are not always operating under full load. All these values are only useful in relation to other energy sources or countries.
| Energy source | total in North Korea | Percentage in North Korea | Percentage USA | per capita in North Korea | per capita USA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fossil fuels | 11.64 bn kWh | 15,8 % | 59,9 % | 448.34 kWh | 2.06 kWh |
| Nuclear power | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 19,5 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.67 kWh |
| Solar energy | 73.70 m kWh | 0,1 % | 3,2 % | 2.84 kWh | 0.11 kWh |
| Wind power | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 8,3 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.29 kWh |
| Water power | 61.98 bn kWh | 84,1 % | 7,0 % | 2,386.42 kWh | 0.24 kWh |
| Tidal Power Plants | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 0,0 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.00 kWh |
| Geothermics | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 0,4 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.01 kWh |
| Biomass | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 1,7 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.06 kWh |
Usage of renewable energies
Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources. This means all energy sources that renew themselves within a short time or are permanently available. Energy from hydropower is only partly a renewable energy. This is certainly the case with river or tidal power plants. Otherwise, numerous dams or reservoirs also produce mixed forms, e.g. by pumping water into their reservoirs at night and recovering energy from them during the day when there is an increased demand for electricity. Since it is not possible to clearly determine the amount of generated energy, all energy from hydropower is displayed separately.In 2019, renewable energy accounted for around 11.3 percent of actual total consumption in North Korea. The following chart shows the percentage share from 1990 to 2019:
Greenhouse gases emissions by country
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