A recent report has uncovered that an explosion occurred at the Dancheon Hydroelectric Power Plant in North Korea’s South Hamgyong Province in June.
On Tuesday, NK Pro, a North Korea-focused platform run by the U.S.-based NK News, analyzed satellite imagery captured by private company Planet Labs between June 26 and 29. Their findings suggest that a severe explosion took place in one of the power plant’s surge tanks (water tanks designed to mitigate pressure fluctuations) due to excessive pressure.
NK Pro reports that the blast caused significant damage to two switchyards (outdoor substation areas) and a smaller building among the two power plant structures near the water tank.
The Dancheon Hydroelectric Power Plant is North Korea’s largest high-drop hydroelectric facility. It operates by drawing water from the high-elevation Samsoo Reservoir through a 37-mile (60 km) tunnel to power two plants. NK Pro speculates that the excessive pressure in the water tank likely resulted from either a mechanical failure at the reservoir’s water intake or a system malfunction in the tunnel that caused an abnormal rise in water level.
It appears that North Korea has not yet completed recovery efforts. Recent satellite imagery shows that while one of the two damaged switchyards has been restored, the other has only undergone partial repairs.
North Korea has not released any official statements or reports about this incident. Similarly, they remained silent about a fire that occurred earlier this month near the 101-story Ryugyong Hotel in central Pyongyang. Analysts interpret this silence as an attempt by the North Korean regime to withhold information from its citizens.
Construction of the Dancheon Power Plant began in May 2017, with an initial completion target of October 2020 that was not met.
While the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party, reported on December 31 last year that the first phase of basic waterway tunnel construction, power generation equipment installation, and pressure pipe assembly at the Dancheon Power Plant had been completed, they have not explicitly confirmed the completion of the entire first phase.
The only indication of the first phase’s completion comes from a statement by General Secretary Kim Jong Un during the 13th meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly in September, where he mentioned that the second phase of the Dancheon Power Plant construction and the modernization of the Yongseong Machine Complex, among other key projects, were nearing completion.