Editing Economy of North Korea (section)

===Power and energy===
{{Main|Energy in North Korea}}[[File:Electrical engineering components.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Electrical engineering components]]
The energy sector is one of the most serious bottlenecks in the North Korean economy. Since 1990, the supply of oil, coal, and electricity declined steadily, and seriously affected all sectors of the economy. [[Crude oil]] was formerly imported by pipeline at "friendship prices" from the former Soviet Union or China, but the withdrawal of Russian concessions and the reduction of imports from China brought down annual imports from about {{convert|23|Moilbbl}} in 1988 to less than {{convert|4|Moilbbl}} by 1997. As the imported oil was refined for fuels for transportation and agricultural machinery, a serious cutback in oil imports caused critical problems in transportation and agriculture.

According to statistics compiled by the South Korean agency Statistics Korea based on [[International Energy Agency]] (IEA) data, per capita electricity consumption fell from its peak in 1990 of 1247 kilowatt hours to a low of 712 kilowatt hours in 2000. It slowly rose since then to 819 kilowatt hours in 2008, a level below that of 1970.<ref name=DNK8612>{{cite news |title=Economic Collapse Reflected in Scarce Electricity |url=http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=9629 |access-date=August 6, 2012 |newspaper=[[Daily NK]] |date=August 6, 2012 |author=Kim Tae Hong |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904031624/http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=9629 |archive-date=September 4, 2012 }}</ref><ref name=YN8612>{{cite news|title=N. Korea's power consumption per capita at 1970s levels |url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2012/08/06/0200000000AEN20120806003300315.HTML |access-date=August 6, 2012 |newspaper=[[Yonhap News Agency]] |date=August 6, 2012 |agency=Yonhap |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022150718/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2012/08/06/0200000000AEN20120806003300315.HTML |archive-date=October 22, 2014 }}</ref>

North Korea has no [[Coke (fuel)|coking coal]], but has substantial reserves of [[anthracite]] in [[Anju (city)|Anju]], Aoji ([[Undok|Ŭndŏk]]), and other areas. Coal production peaked at 43 million tons in 1989 and steadily declined to 18.6 million tons in 1998. Major causes of coal shortages include [[mine flooding]], and outdated mining technology. As coal was used mainly for industry and electricity generation, decrease in coal production caused serious problems in industrial production and electricity generation.

Electricity generation of North Korea peaked in 1989 at about 30 TWh. There were seven large hydroelectric plants in the 1980s. Four were along the [[Yalu River]], built with Chinese aid, and supplying power to both countries. In 1989, 60% of electricity generation was [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] and 40% fossil fueled, mostly coal-fired.

In 1997, coal accounted for more than 80% of primary energy consumption and hydro power more than 10%.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Net imports of coal represented only about 3% of coal consumption. Hydroelectric power plants generated about 55% of North Korea's electricity and coal-fired thermal plants about 39% in 1997.<ref name="Electricity production from coal sources (% of total) - Korea, Dem. People's Rep.">{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.COAL.ZS?locations=KP|title=Electricity production from coal sources (% of total) – Korea, Dem. People's Rep.|publisher=World Bank|access-date=September 26, 2021|archive-date=September 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926063033/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.COAL.ZS?locations=KP|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Electricity production from hydroelectric sources (% of total) - Korea, Dem. People's Rep.">{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.HYDRO.ZS?locations=KP|title=Electricity production from hydroelectric sources (% of total) – Korea, Dem. People's Rep.|publisher=World Bank|access-date=September 26, 2021|archive-date=September 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926071338/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.HYDRO.ZS?locations=KP|url-status=live}}</ref> However, with only 20% of the per capita electricity generation of Japan, North Korea suffered from chronic supply shortages. Coal exports to China accounted for a major portion of North Korea's revenue in mid-2010s.<ref name=CoalDiplomacy>{{cite web |url=http://gregpavone.com/dprk-coal |publisher=Harvard Kennedy School |date=March 2014 |first=Gregory |last=Pavone |title=Coal Diplomacy: The Political Economy of North Korean Coal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904004856/http://gregpavone.com/dprk-coal |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |access-date=May 25, 2015 }}</ref>

Some hydroelectric facilities were believed to be out of operation due to damage from major flooding in 1995. Coal-fired power plants were running well under capacity, due in part to a serious decline in coal supply and in part to problems with transportation of coal. The electricity supply steadily declined and was 17 TWh in 1998.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Transmission losses sit at just under 16% (15.8%) as of 2014.<ref name="Electric power transmission and distribution losses (% of output) - Korea, Dem. People's Rep.">{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?locations=KP|title=Electric power transmission and distribution losses (% of output) – Korea, Dem. People's Rep.|publisher=World Bank|access-date=September 26, 2021|archive-date=September 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926063031/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.LOSS.ZS?locations=KP|url-status=live}}</ref>