Korea and UK announce joint declaration on energy transition, hydrogen included.
Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang met with Grant Shapps, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on April 10 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul to discuss clean energy exchange and cooperation.
The two countries put out a joint declaration stating their agreement on the need for energy transition from fossil fuels to low carbon power sources, prospects for South Korea’s participation in the UK’s new nuclear power plant project and the two countries’ exchanges and cooperation in offshore wind power, hydrogen and other clean energy areas.
They also discussed cooperation in energy security and on responses to climate change.
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Minister Lee remarked that:
Korea is making a broad range of policy efforts aimed at energy transition in shifting towards carbon neutrality on the basis of stable power supply.
And stated that Korea “plans to expand renewable energy to appropriate and attainable levels while utilizing nuclear energy, a zero carbon power source, on the premise of securing stability.”
The Korean and UK delegations discussed various measures for nuclear energy cooperation, including design, construction, main equipment production, decommissioning, nuclear fuel and small modular reactors (SMRs).
Minister Lee said that “South Korea’s strengths lie in design, construction and main equipment production, while the UK’s lie in decommissioning and nuclear fuel,” adding that “mutually beneficial cooperation is possible.”
Building on the momentum of the UK’s launching of Great British Nuclear (GBN) in March, the two countries agreed to accelerate discussions regarding Korea’s participation in UK’s new nuclear power plant project.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Shapps intends to visit the Singori nuclear power plant and Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) during his visit to Korea.
The delegations also discussed offshore wind power, hydrogen and other areas of clean energy cooperation.
Minister Lee expressed his hope for “expansion of the two countries’ scope of collaboration” by combining Korea’s manufacturing capacity and UK’s offshore wind power know-how.
With regard to hydrogen cooperation, he said that he is looking forward to organic cooperation on hydrogen, stating that “Korea has technological prowess in hydrogen applications, having harnessed it to distribute first-rate hydrogen cars,” and that “the UK retains leading technological capabilities in solid polymer electrolysis (SPE) and hydrogen production.”
The minister also requested that the UK consider Korean home appliance industries’ concerns regarding the amendment of ecodesign requirements for light sources.
Minister Lee and Secretary of State Shapps conveyed that, on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the establishment of Korea-UK diplomatic relations, the talks were an opportunity for exchanging shared values on energy security and carbon neutrality, as well as seeking cooperation in clean energy, and agreed that efforts should continue to actively build on this momentum for cooperation going forward.
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Korea and UK announce joint declaration on energy transition, April 10, 2023
