A Korean power plant learned to restart itself — 37% faster

When a power station shuts down, it usually needs outside steam to restart. Engineers at Korea South-East Power's Samcheonpo division reversed the sequence — light the boiler first, make steam inside, and use it to seal and warm the turbines — creating Korea's first self-steam start-up for a coal-fired plant, honoured at the Asian Power Awards 2026. Cold start-up time fell 37%, from 12 hours 40 minutes to 8 hours. The faster a grid can bring plants back, the steadier it stays as variable renewable power grows around them.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation