South Korean Public to Face Higher Electricity Bills as Moon Administration Moves to Close Coal Power Plants

Once again reality continues to hit countries trying to go away from both coal and nuclear power generation like South Korea is trying to do:

With fine dust at choking levels, there are calls for a reduction in power plants fueled by coal and a hike in taxes on diesel fuel to discourage dirty methods of transportation. 

But such measures could backfire.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced Wednesday it will close six aging coal power plants by 2022, three years earlier than originally planned. It will also expand the range of coal plants that will have their operations curtailed when the government issues a fine dust warning. The list, which originally affected 40 plants, was extended to all 60 plants in the country Wednesday. 

Coal plants will conduct more maintenance operations in spring to reduce their hours when fine dust levels are at their highest during the year. 

Yet coal power plants are the largest sources of Korea’s power. Unlike solar and wind-powered plants, coal plants are unaffected by weather conditions in generating electricity (as are nuclear plants).

Korea’s coal power plants currently have the capacity to generate 36,031 megawatts per year, which accounts for 28.6 percent of all power generated in the country. That figure is projected to reach 40,241 megawatts by 2022. 

Its proportion is set to decrease. Coal power plants actually accounted for 45.3 percent of total output in 2017 when several nuclear plants were not in operation. The projection for 2030 is 36.1 percent.

But even then, coal is also expected to remain the country’s biggest energy production source.

The government wants to replace coal plants with liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered plants to reduce fine dust emission levels. But LNG plants are not as efficient and will lead to higher electricity bills. It is uncertain whether the public would accept paying higher electric fees in exchange for less coal power.

Joong Ang Ilbo

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