president Park Ju-heon of the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) has called for Korea to retain a “proper portion” of nuclear power generation in its energy portfolio. As the leader of a state-owned research institute, his demand for a “throttling down” of the government’s anti-nuclear turn is extraordinary.
In a spring discussion-cum-symposium of the KEEI at Yeonsei University on June 23, KEEI President Park said it’s necessary to retain some portion of nuclear and coal-fired power generation capacity for the time being to stabilize electricity supply. KEEI President Park also heads the Korea Resource Economics Association.
The expanding portion of new and renewable energy sources needs to happen in tandem with people’s willingness to accept rising electricity charges, he said. In the case of weaning the nation from its dependence on nuclear- and coal-fired power plants, he said the nation should brace for having a hard time in securing a supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a rise in LNG prices.
A rise in the portion of LNG on power generation may not meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, Park warned. A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicated that gas-fired power plants emit less fine dust than coal-fired power plants, but discharge more ozone-depleting substances. President Moon Jae-in made a public pledge of raising the portion of new and renewable energies from the current under-5 percent to 20 percent in 2030 during his campaign last year. In order to make good on President Moon’s public pledge, he said the nation needs the construction of a combined 51GW new and renewable energy power generation facilities, meaning an annual average of 3.7GW in new facilities. One nuclear power unit normally generates 1GW of electricity.
Raising the portion of new/renewables and LNG to 19 percent and 28.1 percent by 2029, respectively, will likely result in power generation costs surging 29.4 percent. Given backup facilities in consideration of unstable power generation of new/renewable energies, power generation costs will go up 31.3 percent to 35.3 percent. Chances are high that a rise in power generation costs could lead to a raise in electricity charges.
Prof. Chung Beom-jin of Kyunghee University Nuclear Power Department said the new government draws an ideological line between renewable energy and coal-fired power as good and bad, respectively. President Moon could have drawn up populist public pledges during his campaign, but he needs to make policies by listening to experts’ views after seizing power. The goal of energy policies is to stabilize energy supply, but he said it seems that the government may focus only on eliminating specific power generation sources, not considering an issue of stabilizing supply.
Prof. Kang Sung-jin of Korea Polytechnic University said the government has so far somewhat failed to manage demand since it is reluctant to overhaul the way electricity is priced in Korea. The new government’s implementation of new energy policies without reducing electricity demand could cause an “electricity disaster.”
Prof. Hur Eun-nyung, of Seoul National University, said Korea has a world-class company such as Hanwha Q-CELLs in the photovoltaic power sector, and the new government ought to utilize and consult such companies in the course of working out energy policies.
Permanent Halt of Kori Nuclear Power Unit 1
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. held a ceremony to decommission the Kori Nuclear Power Unit 1 on June 18. President Moon, who also participated in the ceremony, declared a policy of weaning the nation from its dependence on nuclear power.
Kori Power Unit 1, which held a ground-breaking ceremony on Dec. 25, 1972, was pressed into commercial service on April 29, 1978. The nation’s first nuclear power facility has since produced a total of 155,260GWh of power for 40 years. The nuclear power plant was granted an additional 10 years of extended life span on June 18, 2017, following the 30-year design life.
Kori Power Unit 1 is to go into a process of dismantling, which will last between 15 years and 20 years.
