Renewable Energy Institute releases today "South Korea: Low Renewable Energy Ambitions Result in High Nuclear and Fossil Power Dependencies".
South Korea is both one of the world’s largest economies and energy consumers: in 2022, it ranked 11th in terms of gross domestic product and 8th in total primary energy consumption. South Korea’s weakness is its heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports. This reliance is unsustainable from energy security and environmental perspectives, and it is incompatible with the country’s objective of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
Focusing on the power sector, this report first describes South Korea’s slow renewable energy progress and lack of ambitions. It then presents implemented policy mechanisms supporting renewable energy, as well as the commitments of pioneering South Korean corporate buyers to procure 100% of their electricity needs from renewable energy. Finally, it stresses that the current government’s lack of ambitious plans for renewable energy unnecessarily prolongs the country’s problematic reliance on nuclear and fossil power.
With this publication, Renewable Energy Institute aims at providing practical information about the latest key developments in South Korea’s power sector. This information may be particularly interesting to Japanese stakeholders: because of the geographical proximity between South Korea and Japan, and because the energy policy of these two countries shares striking similarities.
<Table of Contents>
Introduction
Chapter 1: Government Plans to Remain a Renewable Energy Laggard
1) Slow progress
2) Lack of ambition
3) Four challenges to overcome
Chapter 2: Solutions Advanced for the Expansion of Renewable Energy
1) Renewable portfolio standard
2) Auctions & small-scale solar photovoltaic feed-in tariff
3) Electrical network integration
4) Corporate buyers
Chapter 3: Problematic Continuous Reliance on Nuclear and Fossil Power
1) Nuclear power: a decent track-record tarnished by safety issues
2) Coal and gas power: high risk of carbon lock-in
Conclusion
Annex A: Renewable Energy Certificates
Annex B: Renewable Energy Procurement Options
