Korea's nuclear power reliance grows under Moon govt despite phase-out policy

Despite stubborn adherence to phase out of nuclear power by the Moon Jae-in government, South Korea over the last five years has become more reliant on nuclear generators for power amid surge in natural gas and renewable costs.

According to electricity statistics report released by state utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. on Tuesday, the country’s nuclear power generation amounted to 158,018 gigawatt-hour (GWh) in 2021, up 6.5 percent versus 148,427 GWh recorded in 2017.

Nuclear power plants made up 27.4 percent of total energy resources last year, down from 29.0 percent in 2020 but higher from 23.4 percent in 2018.

Operation rate also increased. Utilization rate hit 74.6 percent last year, up from 75.3 percent in 2020, 70.6 percent in 2019 and 65.9 percent in 2018.

The country inevitably had to turn to nuclear reactors in spite of the government policy to incrementally go entirely nuclear free due to jump in liquified natural gas, which has been actively hired in place of coals for power generation under the government policy to shift to clean energy sources.

The current government tried to roll back nuclear power generation from 2017 to 2019 but ended up going back to reactors as gas prices and renewable energy generation related costs rose, noted Jung Yong-hoon, professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

While the country’s electricity use is expected to grow from winter heating demand, energy generation is growing more expensive from soaring oil and gas prices. If the gas prices stay at the current high level, Korea will need to raise its use of nuclear and coal power generations, Lee Sang-yeol, future strategy division head at Korea Energy Economics Institute. France and other countries in Europe are already increasing the use of nuclear power plants.

Under green energy initiatives, the government has sought to gradually reduce coal-fired power plant while bumping up renewable electricity generation. Electricity production capacity from renewable energy power plants in the country doubled to 20,545 megawatts (MW) last year versus 10,976 MW in 2017. However, actual power generation was far less due to limitations, such as bad weather conditions for solar and wind farms as well as high maintenance costs.

Given the current technological capability and economic feasibility, the country cannot afford to rely on renewable energy sources but would have to source from traditional fuel like coal, gas, and nuclear power, said Lee Deok-hwan, professor at Sogang University. But as coal has emissions problem and gas is expensive, nuclear reactors are the ideal source, he added.

According to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, there currently are 24 nuclear power generators in operation in the country, including two units under regular maintenance work. The country has four new units under construction, and 10 units to be retired by 2030.

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