Minister Kim Seong-hwan of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said, "We will finalize the issue of new nuclear power plants after gathering opinions from experts and the public."
Minister Kim said this at a briefing on climate ministry affairs presided over by the president at the Blue House on Aug. 4, noting, "We will prepare the 12th Basic Plan on Electricity Supply and Demand by Oct." He added, "We will launch a project in Jeju Island that gives price signals to renewable energy and allows market mechanisms to function, and we will work to expand its results to Honam and nationwide."
The Basic Plan on Electricity Supply and Demand is the national power plan that includes a 15-year outlook for electricity demand and plans to expand generation facilities. The 11th plan (2024–2038) currently reflects the introduction of two large nuclear power plants and one SMR. However, there are calls for expanding facilities to meet the power demand needed to build the newly promoted Honam semiconductor cluster.
Meanwhile, Minister Kim also outlined plans to foster the direct current electricity market in connection with power grid innovation. He explained, "In the war of currents between Edison and Tesla 130 years ago, alternating current won, so we have maintained an AC power system to this day," adding, "As most devices—such as solar power, semiconductors, artificial intelligence data centers (AIDC), and mobile phones—now use DC power, the direct current electricity market, including high-voltage direct current (HVDC), is expanding globally."
He added, "The climate ministry will accelerate DC demonstration projects centered on Naju with the Korea Electric Power Corporation and will actively support developing the power equipment industry into a major export industry."