South Korean utility unveils $2.4bn clean energy budget

South Korea's state-run power monopoly announced yesterday that it will spend US$2.4bn by 2020 on developing clean energy technologies.

Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) said it aims to generate $12bn in revenue on its green investment scheme – roughly 700 times its current income from the sector – which would comprise 16.5 per cent of the company's projected earnings in 2020.

KEPCO has chosen eight sectors for investment, starting from 2010: integrated gasification combined cycle systems, carbon capture and storage, smart grid, electric car charging infrastructures, energy-efficient housing, licenced nuclear technology for export markets, high-voltage direct current transmission and superconductivity technology.

News of the investment comes as the country considers introducing a renewable portfolio standard mechanism, which would legally require utility companies to generate at least three per cent of their electricity from low carbon energy sources by 2012.

The aim of the proposed legislation is to have renewables comprise at least 10 per cent of the country's overall electricity by 2020, up from 2.5 per cent in 2008.

KEPCO supplies about 95 per cent of South Korea's electricity, but as of December last year, it generated only 0.9 per cent of its total energy output from renewable sources.