April 21, 2024

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The government’s goal in switching to renewable energy should be adjusted to raise the minimum but lower the maximum level that can be achieved by the target year of 2040, a researcher argued on Feb. 26.

The recommendation was made as the Korea Energy Economic Institute assembles a new plan, covering 2019 to 2040, on energy policy.

The institute’s suggestions submitted to the government in November advises that the country’s reliance on renewable energy for power generation be raised to between 25 and 40 percent by 2040. Forty percent is the global average predicted by the International Energy Agency for the year.

Korea’s use of renewable energy in 2017 was 7.6 percent of total output.

Lim Jae-kyu, a senior researcher at KEEI, argued that Korea needs to be more aggressive in setting the goal in order to gain industry competitiveness. The lower end of the targeted band should be raised to more than 30 percent instead of 25 percent, he said in his presentation at a conference that discussed KEEI’s new plan.

The upper end, on the other hand, needs to be adjusted down to 35 percent from 40 percent, given the volatility of renewable energy and limits in operating the energy market, Lim said.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)