South Korea to shut 10 ageing coal-fired power plants by 2025

• 7 years ago (2016-07-06)

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At present, coal accounts for 40 per cent of South Korea’s electricity supplies, however the country has recently announced that it was targeting $37 billion in renewable energy investment by 2020.

The energy ministry has also said that coal plants could be lowered by 24 per cent by 2030 from 2015 levels.

"In response to growing concerns over fine dusts, we will lower the share of coal power by shutting down old coal-fired power plants and restricting to add new coal-fired power plants in the future," the ministry said.

South Korea is still, however, committed to building 20 new coal-fired plants by 2022.

Energy ministry Joo Hyung-hwan said the percentage of total installed power capacity from coal was expected to edge down to 26.2 per cent by 2029 from 28 per cent in 2015.

South Korea will spend 10 trillion won ($8.68 billion) on closures and upgrading existing plants by 2030 to lower emissions.