A new clean energy partnership between the UK and the Republic of Korea (RoK) has been agreed to boost energy security and accelerate the clean energy transition. The partnership was signed in London by the Energy Security Secretary and RoK’s Minister for trade, industry and energy. It will see the UK and RoK strengthen cooperation on shared ambitions across the clean energy transition, low carbon technologies, civil nuclear, and domestic climate policies. The new partnership will promote UK-Korea business collaboration, addressing barriers to trade and encouraging mutual development of each other’s energy sectors.
The two countries will also double down on commitments made under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, and work together to phase out unabated coal power from energy systems to achieve net zero by 2050. The partnership comes alongside South Korean businesses injecting more than £10 billion of new investment into the UK, backing renewable energy and infrastructure projects across the country, and supporting more than a thousand highly skilled jobs across the renewables supply chain. The UK aims to deploy 50 GW by 2030 and South Korea’s target is 14.3 GW by 2030.
The partnership aims at sharing information and lessons learned on offshore wind to support UK and RoK’s ambitions, collaborating on barriers to deployment and exploring commercial opportunities through the annual offshore wind policy dialogue. The countries plan to explore shared priorities for UK-RoK hydrogen collaboration, building on engagement through existing forums and reinforcing existing cooperation on grids and infrastructure between Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Ofgem and The National Grid to enhance existing technical, policy, R&D and commercial exchange.
