The most important goal of the government's energy policy has always been to supply electricity in a stable manner. But as advanced industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and data centers grow rapidly, and as decarbonization and RE100 (100% renewable energy) become international standards, the question of how to use electricity to develop industries and regions has now become an important task, alongside the question of where and how much electricity to supply.
Currently, Korea has a structure in which power plants such as nuclear plants and renewable energy facilities such as solar power are located along provincial coastlines, while electricity is consumed mainly in the capital region. Many transmission networks are needed to send electricity produced in the provinces to the capital region, and in the process, forest damage, conflicts with residents, and social costs are increasing. Regions where generation and transmission facilities are located must bear environmental and social burdens, regulations, and other harms, while the capital region enjoys many economic benefits such as industries and jobs—facing the structural limits of an imbalance.
It is now time to improve the structural limits of an imbalance stemming from control-oriented and capital-region-centered policy. The total volume of power consumption in the capital region, which has reached its limit, should be managed at the current level, while increasing power demand should be dispersed and relocated to regions with superior generation conditions and industrial potential. In other words, by linking power supply with industrial policy and national land planning, we must shift to a "local production for local consumption" strategy that locates industries where power exists. Future industries should be attracted to regions where power exists in a dispersed manner—considering each region's characteristics and conditions, while providing various benefits so as not to undermine industrial competitiveness, and following companies' autonomous decision-making. This will create a new growth model for balanced regional development in which power, industries, and people live together.
Energy policy must shift beyond simple power supply to a regional development strategy. The central government should support institutions and finance, while local governments should take the lead in attracting companies and cultivating talent by linking regional energy resources such as sunlight, wind, and water with industrial, educational, and transportation infrastructure. By integrating energy policy, industrial policy, and regional development policy in this way, it becomes possible to simultaneously achieve the efficiency of the power industry, industrial competitiveness, carbon neutrality, and regional development that revitalizes local economies and creates jobs.
To this end, there is a need to pursue customized integrated policies by region that comprehensively consider power supply conditions, water availability, existing industrial ecosystems, the foundation for workforce development, and the climate environment. The capital region must break away from a consumption-centered structure that relies on power produced through the resources and sacrifices of other regions, and seek measures for securing diverse energy sources such as solar power, rational consumption, and coexistence with regions. The Chungcheong region must urgently prepare measures to secure replacement power and revitalize the local economy following the retirement of large-scale coal-fired power plants in Taean, Dangjin, and Boryeong. The Gangwon region, based on its abundant hydropower, floating solar power, large-scale pumped-storage power plants using idle land near the front line, hydrothermal energy, and seawater along the East Coast, should create a hydrothermal energy cluster in Chuncheon and an offshore floating AI data center in Gangneung to become a hub for the bio, digital health, and water industries, while developing Wonju into an AI city to absorb the capital region's industrial demand and promote regional growth.
The Honam region should actively develop large-scale solar power and offshore wind power in areas such as Saemangeum, Haenam, and Sinan, and enhance the stability of power supply by utilizing the Yeonggwang nuclear plant, while creating green hydrogen and RE100 industrial complexes to develop into a world-class clean energy advanced-industry hub. The Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang region should utilize nuclear power, offshore wind power, and a world-class manufacturing base to foster AI manufacturing innovation, the eco-friendly transformation of shipbuilding and offshore plants, small modular reactors (SMRs), and a nuclear export industry, while pioneering the Arctic shipping route. For the Daegu-North Gyeongsang region, it is desirable to prepare measures enabling pink hydrogen production using nuclear power, centered especially on areas where new nuclear plants are being pursued such as Uljin and Yeongdeok, and to foster the region as a key hub for hydrogen-reduction steelmaking, AI robots, and new energy industries based on future energy technologies.
Regional extinction is not about population, but about the regret and deficiency of living conditions. If even one of jobs, housing, education, transportation, or medical care is lacking, people's hearts waver first and they turn away. If this kind of energy policy shift is achieved, companies and jobs will increase in the regions, and if an environment is created where people of all ages can design and immerse themselves in their life cycles—through various educational facilities such as international schools and arts schools, as well as silver residences—local living conditions will improve. When living conditions are filled in the regions, people will stay, and when people stay, the regions will surely come back to life. This is why energy policy must change.
