Korea to supply over 70% of electricity through carbon-free energies in 2038: ministry

Carbon-free energy sources, including nuclear power and renewable energies, will account for over 70 percent of Korea's annual power generation by 2038 under the new national energy plan, the industry ministry said Friday.

The country plans to sharply increase the proportion of carbon-free energies in the annual energy supply to a combined 70.7 percent in 2038 from 39.1 percent in 2023, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Carbon-free energies include nuclear power and solar, wind and hydrogen power.

The ministry said it has finalized the latest national electricity supply plan for the years 2024 through 2038 with an aim to meet the fast growing electricity demand sparked by the development of advanced industries, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles (EV), while working to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Demand for electricity in Korea is expected to grow 1.8 percent on a yearly average to reach 129.3 gigawatts (GW) in 2038, according to the ministry. The electricity demand currently stands at around 100 GW.

Under the plan, the government will increase the proportion of nuclear and renewable energies to 31.8 percent and 18.8 percent by 2030, respectively, and 35.2 percent and 29.2 percent by 2038.

Nuclear and renewable energies each took up 30.7 percent and 8.4 percent of the country's power supply in 2023.

The government also plans to raise the proportion of hydrogen and ammonia power from 1.2 percent in 2023 to 2.4 percent in 2030 and 6.2 percent in 2038.

To achieve the goal, Korea will build two new nuclear power plants with a combined generation capacity of 2.8 GW and start operations before the end of 2038.

The new plants, named Shin-Hanul 3 and 4, will be constructed by the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., according to the ministry.

The country will also construct its first next-generation small modular reactor, which has a capacity of 0.7 GW, by 2036. (Yonhap)