Anduk Geun, Minister of Industry, "Will Expand Supply Capacity of Carbon-Free Energy Sources Such as Nuclear Power and Renewable Energy"

The 31st Energy Committee Meeting Held

Minister Anduk Geun of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated on the 22nd, "We plan to focus on expanding the supply capacity of various carbon-free energy sources such as nuclear power, renewable energy, and hydrogen to transition our country's energy system to carbon-free energy."

On the same day, Minister Anduk presided over the 31st Energy Committee meeting, discussing with related ministries and energy experts support measures for overseas expansion of renewable energy, directions for improving the electricity market system, and strategies for fostering the carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry.

Minister Anduk said, "We will actively support the overseas expansion of the renewable energy industry and modernize the electricity market system, which was created during the era of thermal power generation, to fit the future power mix such as renewable energy expansion. We will also commercialize CCS technology, an important carbon-neutral means, at an early stage."

Anduk Geun, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. (Photo by 자료)

Over the past four years, our companies have achieved orders for overseas renewable energy projects totaling $14.3 billion (41 cases, 20.4 GW). Furthermore, at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) last year, 123 countries signed a pledge to triple renewable energy generation capacity by 2030. As the world increasingly focuses on renewable energy as a key means of carbon neutrality, global competition in renewable energy is expected to intensify. To strengthen the competitiveness of domestic companies in overseas expansion, a public-private joint 'Renewable Energy Overseas Expansion Council' has been formed, and for each project, a 'Team Korea' consortium comprising private and public developers, power generation companies, manufacturers, and export finance institutions will be organized to pool capabilities.

Additionally, a 'Comprehensive Support Information Platform' specialized for overseas expansion of renewable energy will be established to gather information dispersed across multiple institutions such as the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIND) into a user-centered system, thereby eliminating information blind spots for overseas expansion.

To effectively accommodate the expansion of supply of various carbon-free energies such as nuclear power, renewable energy, and hydrogen in the electricity market, improvements to the electricity market system will also be pursued. A new electricity market that can accurately reflect real-time supply and demand volatility will be additionally established, and based on a gradual transition to a price bidding system, the overall flexibility of the power system will be enhanced. The long-standing nationwide uniform price system will be restructured, and the special system under the Distributed Energy Act will be utilized together to optimize the location of power resources.

Along with this, a capacity and contract market where market competition and contracts occur from the entry stage of power generation facilities will be opened so that the electricity market can contribute to achieving mid- to long-term power supply and demand goals stably and efficiently.

Moreover, as the importance of CCS technology as a means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in response to the global climate crisis increases, domestic industry demand is rising for ▲ commercialization of core technologies ▲ securing domestic and overseas storage sites ▲ promotion of overseas joint projects. Accordingly, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to secure key technologies and personnel, foster specialized companies, create initial markets through securing domestic and overseas storage sites, and promote ecosystem formation.

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