South Korea's peak power demand could reach 165 gigawatts by 2040 once the electricity needs of three mega-projects are factored in, according to a government estimate. At the fifth debate session for drawing up the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, held at the National Assembly on the 20th, the subcommittee on demand planning projected peak power demand in 2040 at between 158.4 and 165 gigawatts. That is 26.6 to 26.8 gigawatts higher than the forecast presented in April. Meeting the increase would require 19 more large APR1400 nuclear reactors of the 1.4-gigawatt class now under construction. According to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix plan to add at least two more semiconductor plants to their existing four in Gwangju by 2040, which is expected to drive power needs still higher.
The problem lies in how fast generating capacity can be expanded and whether power can be supplied reliably. The government is pushing to install 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, but expected output stands at only 150 terawatt-hours a year. Moreover, renewable energy alone, with its high intermittency, can hardly meet the power demand of semiconductor plants or artificial intelligence data centers. In the end, nuclear power and other baseload sources must be expanded in parallel with power infrastructure such as grids and energy storage systems (ESS), the Korea Energy Economics Institute advises.
Even the government, which has emphasized a renewables-centered energy policy, acknowledges that building new nuclear plants is unavoidable to respond to the AI era. After selecting sites in June this year for two new large reactors and one small modular reactor (SMR) under the 11th electricity plan, it plans to decide how many additional reactors to build following a public hearing in September. Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Kim Sung-hwan said at the session that day, "We will keep renewables at the center while drawing up a plan that also makes use of some nuclear power, and include it in the 12th electricity plan."
Reviving nuclear power is now a necessity, not a choice. Supplying the vast amounts of electricity needed not only for the three mega-projects but also for nurturing future growth engines, cheaply and reliably, cannot be done without the role of nuclear power. This is why major countries such as the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Japan are racing to expand nuclear power. The government should not waver but devote all its efforts to reviving nuclear power, on which future energy sovereignty and the fate of advanced industries depend.
