South Korea to invest $28.5 billion in new power plants

Reuters
Sunday, December 28, 2008
SEOUL: South Korea plans to invest 37 trillion won (£19.3 billion) from 2009 to 2022 on new power plants, including 12 new nuclear plants, to boost fuel efficiency and cut emissions, Seoul's energy ministry said on Sunday.
South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude importer, will also build seven new coal plants, 11 LNG plants and one heavy fuel plant by 2022, but it will get rid of three existing coal plants, six LNG plants and 13 heavy fuel units to boost efficiency, it said in a statement.
"The plan is to generate more low carbon power while decreasing the use of high-priced reserves such as LNG and coal. Under the plan, the fuel cost will be about 56 percent lower than this year," the ministry said.
The total number of nuclear power units will rise to 32, or 32.92 million kilowatts, by 2022 and account for 48 percent of the country's total power generation, from 34 percent this year.
LNG, which is the most expensive fuel, will account for just 6 percent of total power generation in 2022, down from the current 22 percent.
The overall electricity power capacity will increase to 100.89 million kilowatts by 2022, up from 71.36 million by end-2008.
Separately, the ministry said it would lend a combined 289.8 billion won to petroleum developers in 2009 to help the country secure stable energy supplies.
Of the finalised budget, 60 percent will go to existing projects both at home and abroad and the remainder to new exploration.
The ministry said the government would increase the ratio of lending support to non-government companies in 2009, while it would curtail lending to the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation.
(Reporting by Angela Moon and Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Lincoln Feast)