South Korea mulls expanding power supply capacity

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang chairs the 29th Energy Committee meeting held in the EC room of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on July 10. [Photo provided by Yonhap]

The South Korean government will seek ways to expand power supply capacity, including the construction of new nuclear power plants, in preparation for a surge in power demand from new investments in high-tech industries.

This is the first time the government has publicly raised the need to build new nuclear power plants.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday discussed relevant measures during its 29th energy committee meeting chaired by Minister Lee Chang-yang.

“We need to consider expanding nuclear power plants and hydrogen production so that we can respond timely to the growing demand for electricity and supply power stably and efficiently,” said Lee during the meeting. “It is an important task to expand the power grid in a timely manner to ensure stable power supply at any time, and to reorganize the power market system efficiently and fairly,“ he added.

During the meeting, private sector members also raised the need to review new measures, including new nuclear power plants, as power demand is expected to increase rapidly due to investments in advanced industries, according to the ministry.

The ministry also decided to embark early on the 11th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand, which will cover the period from 2024 to 2038, later this month, after committee members called for addressing the delay in formulating the plan. Normally, the plan is finalized at the end of the start year, and the 10th Plan for the period from 2022 to 2036 was finalized in January.

The minister has been emphasizing the need to expand power supply to meet rising demand.

To this end, last week, he met with Chris Levesque, chief executive officer of TerraPower, a U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) development company, and expressed willingness for cooperation in the field of SMR between the two countries.

During the meeting, TerraPower introduced its next-generation SMR technology under development and future plans, and the minister conveyed the need for cooperation at the government level.