South Korea‘s state-run electricity supplier warned of a possible power shortage Monday due to a surge in consumption caused by low temperatures.

The Korea Power Exchange said the country’s electricity reserve was expected to drop to 680,000 kilowatts for two hours from 10 a.m. and again at 5 p.m.

“A ‘red’ alert is expected to be issued as the electricity reserve level is expected to dip to 680,000 kilowatts,” it said in a press release.

“As the power supply is expected to face serious conditions, we are asking people to refrain from using electricity between 9 a.m. and noon, and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.,” it added.

A “blue” alert is issued when the reserve level falls below 4 million kilowatts, followed by a red alert when the level drops below 2 million kilowatts.

The possibility of a power shortage comes as the mercury dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius as of 10 a.m., but also due to a recent shutdown of two nuclear reactors for safety inspection following the discovery that thousands of substandard parts had been used under fabricated quality warranties.

The two nuclear reactors generate over 2 million kilowatts, which is nearly 2.6 percent of the country‘s total generation capacity or about 77 million kilowatts. (Yonhap News)