Launceston — South Korea’s planned pivot away from coal, and nuclear towards liquefied natural gas and renewables, appears to be another blow to the narrative that coal’s best hope is growth in Asia. A draft policy paper released by South Korea’s energy ministry on Wednesday outlined plans to boost the country’s electricity generation by between 4.7% and 9.5% by 2030, using mainly liquefied natural gas and renewables. Coal currently makes up about 40% of South Korea’s power generation and nuclear about 30%, meaning that a shift away from those two will require massive investment in gas-fired plants, as well as wind, solar and hydro. Newly elected President Moon Jae-in wants renewables to generate 20% of the nation’s power by 2030, up from 5% now. The draft paper was light on details, but did include plans to close seven old coal-fired plants by 2022, and halt construction of new coal and nuclear generators. Using liquefied natural gas to fire electricity is about 40% more expensive ...
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