The South Korea Government has announced a plan to abolish coal-fired power generation by 2040, replacing 39 of the 60 currently operating coal power plants with LNG and pumped storage hydropower by 2038, and to phase out the remaining 21 units between 2037 and 2039.

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African Energy Week 2026

The plan involves replacing coal-fired power plants reaching the end of their design life with gas-fired power generation, allocating the replacement generation for Yeonheung 1 and 2 to the Seoul metropolitan area and the replacement generation for Dangjin 5 and 6 to the Honam region. It also proposes designating 10 units as “security power sources”, which will not participate in the electricity market under normal circumstances but will be utilised as reserve power during emergencies.

There are currently 60 coal-fired power plants operating domestically, providing 28.7 per cent of South Korea’s electricity in 2025. Of these, 21 units with a combined capacity of 19.1 GW have a design life beyond 2040. These latter will be phased out ahead of their design lifetime.