South Korea to bet on nuclear power, shunning renewables

According to a draft bill, renewables will account for 21.5% of South Korea’s power generation capacity by the end of the year, down from 30.2% in an earlier draft.
Photo: Technip
Photo: Technip
BY MARKETWIRE, TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOFFER ØSTERGAARD

South Korea plans to scale down its dependence on renewable energy sources and turn more to nuclear power in order to meet climate targets, reports Bloomberg News citing a draft of the nation’s long-term power supply plan, presented Tuesday.

According to the draft, renewables will make up 21.5% of South Korea’s power generation capacity at the end of the year, down from 30.2% as featured in an earlier draft.

Much of this capacity will instead be covered by nuclear power, whereas power generated from coal and gas has changed only slightly from earlier drafts.

Were the draft to be finalized, it would mark a turning point under the new administration led by President Yoon Suk-yeol, who favors nuclear power over renewable energy for meeting climate targets.

Throughout his presidential campaign, Yoon advocated atomic power, saying that there was a need for building more reactors, which marked a stark departure from his predecessor Moon Jae-in’s anti-nuclear policy.

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