[Insight & Opinion] Balancing Energy Policy: Reflections from Riding a Bicycle

Achieving Harmony Among Nuclear Power, LNG, and Renewables
The Government Must Steer with Balanced Policies
The Private Sector Should Pedal Forward to Accelerate Growth

A person riding a bicycle can maintain balance and follow a steady path by making only slight adjustments to the left or right. In the economy, the government can play the role of a guide that keeps the bicycle moving forward. If the government changes and the handlebars are turned excessively left or right, the lives of the people become unsettled.

Let’s look at energy policy. On May 31st, the government announced the Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, reflecting the construction of three new nuclear power plants and the introduction of one Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Solar and wind power are eco-friendly but expensive. Under the previous administration, we witnessed the upheaval caused by solar power being promoted as profitable, which led to the destruction of salt fields vital to people’s livelihoods. The installation of solar power facilities threatened the ecosystem for producing sea salt, putting it at risk of collapse. Over time, the area of arable land decreased, lowering the food self-sufficiency rate. While solar power projects are beneficial, is it right to pursue renewable energy projects at the expense of food security?

Renewable energies such as solar, wind, and hydropower are, of course, important for achieving RE100 (100% renewable energy). However, in countries without adequate infrastructure, renewable energy cannot be a panacea. Wind and sun are not always with us. Wind does not blow every day, and the sun hides at night. This causes issues of energy variability and intermittency. It is important to complement these, but nuclear power plants have been said to be rigid power sources that cannot compensate for intermittency.

Globally, as the importance of nuclear power increases, there have been multiple discussions about whether the issues of nuclear power plants?such as the long time required for startup, shutdown, and output adjustment?can harmonize with renewable energy. Because nuclear power output is very large, operating expensive renewable energy sources can pose a significant shock to the power grid, leading to the general view that the two power sources are incompatible. In this situation, shouldn’t the government have its own logic to persuade the public to view energy policy in a balanced way? The following three arguments seem necessary.

First, the world is paying attention to the role of LNG. LNG power generation acts as a bridge to mitigate shocks that may occur when transitioning from coal to renewable energy. Technically, it has the advantage of complementing the intermittency of renewable energy in power system operations. The European Union (EU) included nuclear power and LNG in its green industry classification system, the 'Green Taxonomy,' giving it legitimacy.

Second, the active utilization of recently developed Small Modular Reactors (around 300 MWe capacity) is important. Unlike existing large nuclear power plants, SMRs have the advantage of load-following capability, allowing flexible power adjustment. While they are not as precise as gas power plants or energy storage systems (ESS) in fine output control, they can reinforce the capabilities of existing nuclear plants when used diversely. However, SMRs must overcome criticism that, unlike economies of scale where construction costs per unit of power decrease as capacity increases, their costs may not follow this trend. Rapid technological advancement is necessary.

Third, it is true that South Korea’s nuclear power plants do not currently perform load-following operations that adjust output nimbly according to demand. France and Germany, after many initial trials and errors, developed their own control methods and operate nuclear plants flexibly rather than rigidly. Whether to operate nuclear power plants flexibly is not a technical issue but a policy decision. The government needs to focus its policy capabilities on devising ways to operate them flexibly.

The bicycle pedals must not move backward. If the government balances the bicycle handlebars with trustworthy policies, the private sector can vigorously pedal to accelerate growth. In that process, the government can provide lubrication. Are we currently doing our best to ensure a balanced role-sharing between the public and private sectors?

Jo Won-kyung, Professor at UNIST and Director of the Global Industry-Academia Cooperation Center

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