A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation
Summary: South Korea relies on imported fossil fuels for over 60% of its electricity generation, making it vulnerable to energy security risks and fuel price volatility. This study analyzes pathways for South Korea to achieve an economically optimal clean electricity generation mix by 2035, using ca...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Cell Reports Sustainability |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949790624004233 |
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| author | Won Young Park Yong Hyun Song Nikit Abhyankar Hee Seung Moon Umed Paliwal Eunsung Kim Nina Khanna Sanghyun Hong James Hyungkwan Kim Kenji Shiraishi Jiang Lin Seung Wan Kim Amol Phadke |
| author_facet | Won Young Park Yong Hyun Song Nikit Abhyankar Hee Seung Moon Umed Paliwal Eunsung Kim Nina Khanna Sanghyun Hong James Hyungkwan Kim Kenji Shiraishi Jiang Lin Seung Wan Kim Amol Phadke |
| author_sort | Won Young Park |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: South Korea relies on imported fossil fuels for over 60% of its electricity generation, making it vulnerable to energy security risks and fuel price volatility. This study analyzes pathways for South Korea to achieve an economically optimal clean electricity generation mix by 2035, using capacity expansion and production cost modeling. We find that transitioning to 80% clean electricity—comprising 50% renewables and 30% nuclear—alongside investments in storage and transmission is both economically desirable and operationally feasible. Expanding renewables can reduce dependence on imported natural gas and coal while dramatically reducing emissions. Declined clean energy costs can reduce electricity supply costs by 23%–40% compared with 2022. Hourly dispatch simulations indicate that South Korea’s grid can integrate high levels of variable renewables without coal generation or new natural gas power plants. Realizing these benefits requires ambitious policies, a robust regulatory framework, and effective business models to spur renewable energy growth. Science for society: South Korea’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels presents a significant challenge, requiring urgent and sustained action to ensure a sustainable and resilient energy future. We analyze economic decarbonization pathways for Korea’s electric power sector by 2035, leveraging optimal capacity expansion and hourly dispatch modeling to assess the opportunities and constraints in the power systems and reflecting expected rapid declines in the costs of solar, wind, and battery storage technologies. We also introduce offshore high-voltage direct current transmission lines as a strategic network planning option to address the significant discrepancies between major load centers and high-potential renewable energy regions. We find that accelerated renewable energy deployment by 2035 is achievable in a cost-effective and reliable manner, offering substantial economic, environmental, and energy security benefits. We thus present a comprehensive perspective on Korea’s energy transition in the power sector. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b390b5ccd15e4c878ff9ad7286dd3903 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2949-7906 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cell Reports Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-b390b5ccd15e4c878ff9ad7286dd39032025-01-26T05:05:27ZengElsevierCell Reports Sustainability2949-79062025-01-0121100262A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generationWon Young Park0Yong Hyun Song1Nikit Abhyankar2Hee Seung Moon3Umed Paliwal4Eunsung Kim5Nina Khanna6Sanghyun Hong7James Hyungkwan Kim8Kenji Shiraishi9Jiang Lin10Seung Wan Kim11Amol Phadke12Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Corresponding authorNEXT group, Seoul 06109, Republic of KoreaEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; NEXT group, Seoul 06109, Republic of KoreaEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USANEXT group, Seoul 06109, Republic of KoreaEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAPLANiT, Seoul 08045, Republic of KoreaEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USAEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USANEXT group, Seoul 06109, Republic of Korea; Department of Energy Engineering, Korea Institute of Energy Technology, Naju 58330, Republic of Korea; Corresponding authorEnergy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USASummary: South Korea relies on imported fossil fuels for over 60% of its electricity generation, making it vulnerable to energy security risks and fuel price volatility. This study analyzes pathways for South Korea to achieve an economically optimal clean electricity generation mix by 2035, using capacity expansion and production cost modeling. We find that transitioning to 80% clean electricity—comprising 50% renewables and 30% nuclear—alongside investments in storage and transmission is both economically desirable and operationally feasible. Expanding renewables can reduce dependence on imported natural gas and coal while dramatically reducing emissions. Declined clean energy costs can reduce electricity supply costs by 23%–40% compared with 2022. Hourly dispatch simulations indicate that South Korea’s grid can integrate high levels of variable renewables without coal generation or new natural gas power plants. Realizing these benefits requires ambitious policies, a robust regulatory framework, and effective business models to spur renewable energy growth. Science for society: South Korea’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels presents a significant challenge, requiring urgent and sustained action to ensure a sustainable and resilient energy future. We analyze economic decarbonization pathways for Korea’s electric power sector by 2035, leveraging optimal capacity expansion and hourly dispatch modeling to assess the opportunities and constraints in the power systems and reflecting expected rapid declines in the costs of solar, wind, and battery storage technologies. We also introduce offshore high-voltage direct current transmission lines as a strategic network planning option to address the significant discrepancies between major load centers and high-potential renewable energy regions. We find that accelerated renewable energy deployment by 2035 is achievable in a cost-effective and reliable manner, offering substantial economic, environmental, and energy security benefits. We thus present a comprehensive perspective on Korea’s energy transition in the power sector.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949790624004233clean electricityclean energy scenariodecarbonizationrenewable energyKorea energy policyenergy security |
| spellingShingle | Won Young Park Yong Hyun Song Nikit Abhyankar Hee Seung Moon Umed Paliwal Eunsung Kim Nina Khanna Sanghyun Hong James Hyungkwan Kim Kenji Shiraishi Jiang Lin Seung Wan Kim Amol Phadke A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation Cell Reports Sustainability clean electricity clean energy scenario decarbonization renewable energy Korea energy policy energy security |
| title | A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation |
| title_full | A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation |
| title_fullStr | A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation |
| title_short | A clean energy Korea by 2035: Transitioning to 80% carbon-free electricity generation |
| title_sort | clean energy korea by 2035 transitioning to 80 carbon free electricity generation |
| topic | clean electricity clean energy scenario decarbonization renewable energy Korea energy policy energy security |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949790624004233 |
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