2050 Carbon Zero... Public Enterprises Taking Their First Step

K-water, Korea's First 'Comprehensive Water Management Roadmap' Established
Goal to Reduce 7.8 Million Tons of Greenhouse Gases

Six Power Generation Public Enterprises Including KEPCO
Declare 'Zero for Green'
Establish Joint Technology Development Strategies

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Public enterprises including Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) are consecutively presenting plans to achieve carbon neutrality. This follows the government’s 2050 carbon neutrality target, with public enterprises preparing concrete action plans.

On the 10th, K-water established the nation’s first ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap for the Water Sector’ and selected and announced four major strategies and twelve implementation tasks. The 2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap for the water sector serves as a foundational document for K-water’s carbon neutrality efforts in the water sector amid climate change, including greenhouse gas reduction measures throughout the entire water management process. It also presents the direction for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

In the roadmap, K-water announced a goal to reduce 7.8 million tons of greenhouse gases by 2050 through four major strategies: △ Carbon Zero Water Management △ Expansion of Water Energy △ Activation of Green Hydrogen △ Creation of Carbon Sinks. K-water projected that without artificial measures to reduce greenhouse gases, emissions would reach 870,000 tons by 2050, but aims to not only achieve zero carbon emissions but also reduce an additional 6.93 million tons.

To this end, K-water plans to implement twelve key tasks including supplying low-carbon tap water by applying reduction technologies throughout the water management process, promoting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions at water purification plants, activating water energy such as floating solar power and hydrothermal energy, participating in green hydrogen projects, restoring dam floodplains, and expanding natural ecological carbon sinks by creating waterfront ecological belts.

Power generation public enterprises are also presenting carbon neutrality plans. Six power generation public enterprises including Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and Korea South-East Power recently declared the vision ‘Zero for Green’ for carbon neutrality. They intend to lead bold innovations across the entire power industry value chain, including energy production (generation), distribution (power grid), and usage (efficiency improvement). To this end, these power enterprises will completely phase out coal power generation by 2050 and promote capital- and technology-intensive projects such as large-scale offshore wind farms and next-generation solar power, which are difficult to activate through private sector participation alone.

These public enterprises have selected essential technologies for achieving carbon neutrality in the transition sector and decided to increase investments to raise technology levels. Considering the risk of duplication and inefficiency if each company conducts research and development (R&D) individually without a joint strategy or implementation system, they also established a ‘Carbon Neutral Technology Development Strategy’ that includes joint technology development strategies and implementation plans.

This strategy includes plans to increase power generation by enlarging offshore wind turbines, develop large-scale complex construction and economical operation technologies, and reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) by more than 40% from current levels to 150 KRW per kWh by 2030. It also focuses on developing water electrolysis technology that uses surplus renewable energy to produce green hydrogen, aiming to increase green hydrogen production efficiency from the current 65% to over 80% by 2030. By 2027, they plan to demonstrate 20% ammonia co-firing, and by 2028, develop 50% hydrogen co-firing technology to gradually expand hydrogen-based power generation. Additionally, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology will be commercialized by 2030 for 500 MW coal-fired and 150 MW gas-fired power plants to reduce carbon emissions during power generation, with capture costs lowered to $30 per ton, about 50% of current costs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.