[2021 국회에 듣는다] Lee Hak-young, Member of the National Assembly (The French Democratic Party)

“When we start a more aggressive energy transition”
The role of LNG grows until the completion of renewable energy technology
Hydrogen ecosystem, must be competitive in the overall technology

[에너지신문] Rep. Hak-young Lee, chairman of the Small and Medium Venture Business Committee of the 21st National Assembly, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. As a third-tier lawmaker who has been active in legislative activities since the 19th, he has been recognized for his years and is leading the Liberal Arts Committee. As the Republic of Korea is facing the heavy task of energy conversion and carbon neutrality, we have prepared a place to hear Lee’s views on this.

◆ What is the evaluation of the government’s energy policy?

Since its inception, the Moon Jae-in administration has been preparing to enter an eco-friendly and low-carbon society more actively than other governments such as renewable energy 3020, Korean Green New Deal, and 2050 carbon neutral declaration.

Carbon neutrality is a very challenging task for Korea, which has a manufacturing-oriented industrial structure. It is also a reality that the industrial groups that have traditionally supported Korea, such as internal combustion locomotives and coal power plants, are inevitable.

However, it is very difficult to devise a policy that supports the transformation of the existing industry into a new industry in a situation where it is impossible to abandon the industry group with infinite development potential to protect the existing industry.

In this reality, the government announced the transition to an eco-friendly low-carbon society as our strategy to lead the global economy in the post-corona era. Compared to Europe, the United States, and Japan, which have aggressively entered the carbon-neutral economy, Korea may seem somewhat passive in terms of investment size and targets.

Therefore, it is necessary to aggressively move toward eco-friendly and low-carbon energy conversion. Renewable energy cannot be increased to the level of major countries without resolving issues such as volatility, separation distance, etc., and residents’ acceptance issues that are currently preventing the expansion of renewable energy.

It is necessary to take active initiatives in securing flexible resources to cope with the volatility of renewable energy, improving the separation distance regulation, and solving the problem of acceptability through expansion of resident-participating renewable energy business, and other factors that hinder the expansion of renewable energy from time to time. something to do.

◆ How do you see the energy industry outlook this year?

The topic of the energy industry in 2021 is the expansion of renewable energy. In 2019, 75% of the world’s new power generation facilities were renewable energy, and the amount of investment in the market was also $311 billion, nearly twice that of coal, gas, and nuclear power plants combined. With the expansion of renewable energy dominating the global power market, the scale is expected to expand further this year.

Goldman Sachs predicted that global capital expenditure for renewable energy would account for about 25% of total facility investment, surpassing oil and natural gas through the Carbonnomics report.

Wood McKinsey predicts that most markets in Asia Pacific will have a lower cost of renewable energy compared to coal by 2030. In particular, markets in Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam are expected to achieve lower cost of renewable energy compared to coal this year. I also viewed it.

The EU plans to secure an offshore wind power target of only 12GW up to 300GW by 2050, and in the United States, demand for renewable energy of 100GW per year is expected to occur over the next 15 years due to the completion of the life of coal and natural gas power generation.

◆ What is the evaluation of the 9th Basic Electric Power Supply and Demand Plan?

The most regrettable part of the 9th Basic Plan for Power Supply and Demand is that the 2050 carbon zero target is not included. Of course, if you consider that the 9th plan period is until 2034, it may be unreasonable to contain the carbon emission plan until 2050. Nevertheless, considering that carbon neutrality in 2050 is a global task beyond a national task, a mid- to long-term plan should be included in the carbon and energy plan submitted by the government.

For the mid- to long-term power mix for carbon neutrality, the National Assembly must deal with the Energy Conversion Support Act and the Framework Act on the Implementation of a Decarbonized Society for Response to the Climate Crisis as soon as possible.

Civic groups are criticizing the government’s acceptance of seven new coal constructions. The plan to convert 24 coal generators, which has been decided to abolish, to LNG is also under criticism.

It is agreed that Korea’s carbon emissions should be set to ‘0’ before 2050 approaches, but there is no difficulty in power supply and demand if there is no backup facility such as LNG while the technology for mitigating the output volatility of renewable energy is not at its peak. Is expected.

It is necessary to fully explain to the public that the role of LNG cannot be ruled out until the technology that can control the volatility of renewable energy output is completed, and more efforts should be made to develop related technologies so that carbon neutrality can be achieved early.

◆ What is your position on the early closure of Wolseong Unit 1?

Prior to the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration, a court ruling already revealed that there was a problem in the process of extending the lifespan of Wolseong Unit 1, and a decision was made to cancel the life extension disposition. Nevertheless, it is very inappropriate to mislead public opinion as if it were shutting down safe and economical nuclear power plants early.

Also, the government’s nuclear power plant policy is not to stop all nuclear power plants in operation and abolish new construction. Rather, even though the Moon Jae-in administration is building a 3GW new nuclear power plant, there are many misunderstandings and fake news about the nuclear power plant policy.

Energy policy has a great impact on future generations as well as our generation, and nuclear power policy in particular has a greater impact than any other industry. It takes at least 10,000 to 100,000 years for spent fuel to return to its natural uranium level. In terms of human time, even if the half-life is 10,000 years, it needs time to go back to the Stone Age.

We are in a situation where we continue to produce nuclear waste without even determining the site for disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Too much social expenses are being spent in continuing exhausting debates over whether or not the nuclear power plant will be closed after 40 years without social discussions or concerns about this situation.

It is time to conclude the exhausting debate over the shutdown of the Wolseong nuclear power plant and reach an agreement on the disposal of spent nuclear fuel, strengthening the safety of the nuclear power plant in operation, and transparent operation of the nuclear power plant.

◆ What is the energy-related policy goal of the National Assembly’s Sanjungwi in 2021?

It is necessary to remove the upper limit on the mandatory RPS supply, which is currently 10% of the power generation, and to deal with the amendment to the law that allows the government to flexibly set the mandatory supply of RPS according to the renewable energy policy goal. The New and Renewable Energy Act must be passed as soon as possible so that the expansion of renewable energy and the business stability of business operators can be promoted.

In 2019, the mandatory supply of new and renewable energy was 2282 million REC, whereas the actual issuance amount was 33,799,000 REC, which exceeded the demand, and the gap is growing every year. Accordingly, the average REC price is also decreasing every year, making it very difficult for small-scale renewable energy companies to maintain their business.

This year, the National Assembly will have to do its part so that renewable energy companies can operate business with guaranteed business feasibility in a more improved environment. In addition, the revised bill of the Electricity Business Act, which introduces direct renewable energy transactions so that companies can use renewable energy electricity through voluntary power purchase contracts (PPA) with renewable energy electricity supplier, must be processed as soon as possible.

◆ What are your views on building a hydrogen ecosystem?

While major countries are developing the hydrogen industry across the entire hydrogen ecosystem, from hydrogen production to storage, transportation, and use, Korea seems to focus only on mass production of hydrogen vehicles. No matter how competitive hydrogen cars are in the world, it is difficult to compete with internal combustion vehicles at the current level of 58 hydrogen charging stations nationwide.

In order to realize a hydrogen economy, it is necessary to have competitiveness in overall technologies such as hydrogen production, storage, transportation and utilization, just as hydrogen mobility has a competitive edge in the global market. To this end, hydrogen mobility achieves the localization rate of core parts, and further revitalizes the use of hydrogen through expansion of transportation means and charging stations such as hydrogen buses, taxis, and trucks, while taking advantage of the strengths of the petrochemical industry to expand the production of by-product hydrogen in the early stage of the hydrogen economy You will have to lead the entry into society.

In addition, it is necessary to secure water electrolysis technology so that it can leap into a green hydrogen producing country that can mass-produce hydrogen through large-scale solar and wind power generation.

In addition, a stable and economical hydrogen distribution system should be established to diversify and increase the efficiency of storage methods such as high-pressure gas, liquid, liquid, and solid, and the use of tube trailers and pipelines should be expanded to meet the increasing demand for hydrogen. In this process, a reliable safety management system should be established throughout the entire cycle so that the public can trust hydrogen above the level of city gas.

◆ How do you view the changes in the oil industry ecosystem?

With Corona 19, the WTI oil price recorded negative for the first time in history, and oil-producing countries are each dying, and a sense of crisis in the oil industry is prevalent due to the flow of energy conversion at the global level.

Four major European companies, BP, Shell, Total, and Eni, announced their strategy to achieve Net-Zero by 2050, invested in the development of the world’s first large-scale carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) network, and plan a carbon-free gas supply chain. I promised, etc. ExxonMobil, a US petrochemical company, also announced that it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20% compared to 2016 within five years. In the case of the Korea National Oil Corporation, it was also revealed that it will promote the CCS project by utilizing the empty underground space of the Donghae Gas Field, which will end in use in June 2022.

As carbon neutrality has emerged as a new global economic paradigm, the demand for carbon neutrality from the oil industry will be more intense. The government and the National Assembly plan to overhaul related systems to minimize the burden on the oil industry during the energy conversion process and accelerate investment in carbon-neutral projects.

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