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By Lee Kyung-min
Korea will increase the proportion of nuclear power to over 30 percent of the country's total energy mix by 2036, while the share of renewable energy will rise to 20 percent, the government said Thursday. The proportion of fossil fuel and liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be drastically reduced to below 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the proportion of nuclear energy will be raised to 34.6 percent by 2036, up from 23.4 percent in 2018. The proportion of renewables will rise to 30.6 percent, up from 6.2 percent during the same period.
The plan is the final version of the new energy directives under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration announced in July, when he reiterated the need to place greater emphasis on nuclear energy as not only a power source but an export growth driver. The set of policies have since undergone reviews by relevant ministries, public hearings and parliamentary standing committees. They have also been subject to environmental impact studies.
The proportions of fossil fuel and LNG will fall to 14.4 percent and 9.3 percent in 2036, down from 41.9 percent and 26.8 percent in 2018, respectively.
Carbon neutrality
"Korea will rely more on nuclear power generation and renewables instead of fossil fuel and LNG," the ministry said. "The balanced energy mix will advance the effective use of renewables to better achieve carbon neutrality."
Korea will need energy generation facilities with a maximum capacity of 143.9 gigawatts (GW), in order to help guarantee a stable supply of 118.0 GW needed by the entire country by 2036.
The renewable energy portfolio will be reoriented to reduce the current heavy reliance on solar energy and instead raise the proportion of wind power.
The facility capacity ratio of solar energy to wind energy will come to 66 to 34 in 2036, a revision from 92 to 8 in 2021.
The new energy drive will seek ways to overhaul the current unified and outdated power trading system.
In the first half of this year, the government will establish a new power market that accurately prices each energy source based on individual characteristics. Also reflected will be the differing needs and interests of power generators and suppliers.
The new market will be able to meet the real-time needs of energy users, enabled by the abolishment of the current 24-hour delay between orders and receipts of power sources that are traded.
The trading interval will be shortened to 15 minutes, a reduction from a one-hour interval to better meet fluctuations in market demand.
Also to be revised is the method of setting the system marginal price (SMP), which is the wholesale price Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) pays to power generators to buy electricity.
The new market will also allow the trading of backup power sources.
The government will foster the trading of renewable energy sources under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which is a long-term contract whereby a business agrees to buy electricity directly from a renewable energy vendor.
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