[서울신문] By 2034, renewables double ↑ Coal and nuclear power half ↓

Government’s “renewable 40%” power supply plan confirmed
Abolition of 30 coal power plants… To 10% of nuclear power plants

The ‘9th Basic Electric Power Supply and Demand Plan’ has been confirmed as the framework for’expansion of coal, nuclear power and renewable energy’. By 2034, the share of renewable energy will more than double, and coal and nuclear power will be cut in half.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the 9th power plan, which included the forecast of electricity supply and demand for 15 years from this year to 2034, demand management, and power facility plans, was confirmed through the power policy deliberation on the 28th.

By 2034, 30 coal power plants that have been in operation for 30 years will be eliminated and 24 of them will be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) power generation. Coal power plant capacity will decrease from 35.8GW (58 units) this year to 29.0GW (37 units) in 2034. The nuclear power plant peaked at 26 units in 2022 when Shinhanul Units 1 and 2 are completed in accordance with the principle of prohibiting new and extended life, and then decreases to 17 units by 2034. The facility capacity will be reduced from 23.3GW (24 units) at present to 19.4GW (17 units) in 2034.

LNG power plant capacity will increase from 41.3GW this year to 58.1GW in 2034, and the capacity of new and renewable energy facilities during the same period will increase by about four times from 20.1GW to 77.8GW. As planned, the proportion of facilities by power plant in 2034 will be in the order of new and renewable (40.3%), LNG (30.6%), coal (15.0%), and nuclear power plants (10.1%). Compared to this year, the proportion of new and renewable energy will increase by 24.5 percentage points, LNG will decrease by 1.7 percentage points, coal will decrease by 13.1 percentage points, and nuclear power plants will decrease by 8.1 percentage points.

Regarding the increase of LNG as an alternative fuel for coal, the Ministry of Industry explained, “It is true that LNG power generation is a power generation source that emits carbon, but it emits far less carbon dioxide than coal power generation, and considered the need as a’bridge power’ in the process of supplying renewable energy.” did.

As of 2030, the target for GHG emissions in the conversion sector was set at 191 million tons. This is 23.6% less than 252 million tons in 2017. The emission of fine dust in the power generation sector will decrease by about 57% from 21,000 tons in 2019 to 9000 tons in 2030.

Reporter Seung-Hoon Kim [email protected]