Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Korea will raise its electrification ratio to 35% by 2035, up from 22% at the end of last year. The plan calls for expanding renewable energy and nuclear power to cut the share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption while lifting the share of electricity.
Kim made the remarks to reporters on the 17th after signing a memorandum of understanding with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol on Korea-IEA cooperation for Asian energy security. "Ahead of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) this year, we agreed to work together with Asian countries to achieve a 35% electrification ratio by 2035," Kim said. "To that end, we will review energy supply and demand conditions in the IEA and in various Asian countries, and ultimately work toward a transition to an electricity-based nation."
The commitment is seen as going beyond simply joining the "35x35 electrification" target recently proposed by Turkey, the COP31 host, to also supporting Asian countries in meeting it. Turkey had earlier proposed raising the share of electricity in final energy consumption to about 35% by 2035 as a core agenda item for the COP31 meeting to be held in Antalya, Turkey, in November this year.
Birol, meanwhile, voiced concern that instability in liquefied natural gas supply and demand caused by the war in the Middle East could persist for an extended period. "Many Asian countries have severed ties with Russia, which will make LNG supply and demand even more difficult," he said. "If this winter is colder than usual, LNG demand will rise further." He added that "the answer is Korea's policy of pursuing electrification, using nuclear power as well as renewables, and diversifying LNG import sources."
