North Korea is expanding an aging coal-fired power plant in Pyongyang for the first time in years, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, under a long-term push to solve chronic electricity shortages in the capital and other areas.

Google Earth imagery shows that the DPRK began preparing land west of the East Pyongyang Thermal Power Plant for construction as early as Oct. 2020, before excavating ground for three large cooling towers in December that year.

Workers laid the foundations for the natural wet draft cooling towers in 2022, and more recent imagery from Feb. 2024 shows