The government's plan to build two additional large nuclear power plants by 2038 will proceed as scheduled. Kim Sung-hwan, Minister of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, said on the 26th, "We will proceed with the construction of new nuclear power plants under the 11th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand (Electricity Plan) as planned."
Earlier, the 11th Electricity Plan, finalized in Feb. last year, included a plan to introduce two large nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 2.8 GW (gigawatts) in 2037–2038 and to build a small modular reactor (SMR, 0.7 GW capacity) by 2035. However, after the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, figures in the ruling bloc argued that no more nuclear plants should be built.
In response, the ministry began holding two rounds of policy forums and conducting public opinion polls late last year. In the poll, more than 80% answered that "nuclear power is necessary," and more than 60% said that "the existing new nuclear plant plans should also proceed," and the ministry accepted this.
Under the 11th Electricity Plan, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) is expected to soon begin soliciting sites for the two new nuclear plants. After about five to six months of site evaluation and selection, the plan is to obtain construction permits in the early 2030s and complete them in 2037–2038.
The ministry plans to operate the power system with a focus on renewable energy and nuclear power going forward. Minister Kim said, "To cut carbon emissions in the power sector, it is necessary to reduce coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) generation, so power operations need to center on renewables and nuclear power," adding, "We will use ESS (energy storage system) and pumped storage to offset the intermittency of renewables and the inflexibility of nuclear power."
ESS stores surplus electricity generated by sources such as solar and wind and supplies it again when needed. Pumped storage stores energy by using surplus power to move water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir at a higher elevation, then generates electricity by releasing the water back down when power is needed.
Regarding the 12th Electricity Plan to be finalized in the first half of this year, the ministry said it "aims to scientifically and objectively reflect forecasts of electrification demand stemming from the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicles, as well as an energy mix and distributed power grid plans for carbon neutrality."