(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jaeyoung Lee = Private businesses can now carry out national power grid development projects until December 31, 2029.
The need to quickly expand the power grid has increased, but there are financial and manpower limitations to leaving it to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) alone.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced that the amendment to the National Electric Power Grid Act, which allows businesses other than Korea Electric Power Corporation (transmission business) to carry out national power grid construction projects when designated by the Minister of Climate and Safety after deliberation and resolution by the National Electric Power Grid Expansion Committee, was passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 20th.
As projects previously monopolized by the public are entrusted to the private sector due to public financial and human resource limitations, the amendment stipulates that the privately constructed power grid be handed over to KEPCO as soon as the construction project is completed.
In addition, it was stipulated that the implementation regulations for the private national power grid development project will be effective only until December 31, 2029.
The National Assembly passed the amendment to the National Electricity Grid Act and added a side opinion that the government should manage the total project cost to ensure that the profits from the national electricity grid construction project in which the private sector participates are not excessively allocated, and that KEPCO should submit related information to the National Assembly.
The regulations requiring the transfer of facilities to KEPCO upon completion of the construction project are in response to concerns over 'privatization of the power grid' as the government decided to allow the private sector to carry out national power grid construction projects.
At the plenary session on this day, the ‘Special Act on Support for Coal-Fired Power Plant Workers and Abolished Areas’ was also passed.
This law aims to 'promote stability and a just transition for related companies, workers, and local communities in the process of abolishing coal-fired power plants.' When a coal-fired power plant is abolished, operators are required to prepare a plan including worker employment stability and relocation plans at least two years in advance, and the government is required to establish a basic plan to support areas where coal-fired power plants are abolished every five years.
The law contains provisions that allow the Minister of Climate to designate and maintain coal-fired power plants that operators wish to abolish as 'security power generators'. However, environmental groups are criticizing this for allowing the government to arbitrarily adjust the timing of the complete abolition of coal-fired power plants.
There is virtually no content related to the early closure of coal-fired power plants, but Rep. Seo Wang-jin of the Fatherland Innovation Party, who proposed one of the alternatives reflected in this law, said in a separate 'minority opinion', "I do not agree because it omits the specific target year for early closure of coal-fired power plants and the regulations on the government's authority to abolish. It may send a wrong signal to power generation companies that early closure is only an option."
On this day, an amendment to the Renewable Energy Development, Utilization, and Distribution Promotion Act, which converts the Renewable Energy Supply System (RPS) into a 'long-term fixed price bidding system', and an amendment to the Electricity Business Act and the Distributed Energy Act, which provide priority access to the power system for small-scale resident-participatory renewable energy projects under 1MW (megawatt) promoted in areas around the national power grid, were also passed by the National Assembly.
RPS is a system that requires large-scale power generation companies to supply more than a certain percentage of their power generation with renewable energy. There was much criticism that the purpose of the system was being defeated as the proportion of power generation companies meeting their obligations by purchasing renewable energy supply certificates (RECs) from private power generation companies increased, rather than building and operating renewable energy power generation facilities.
The REC spot market will remain open until December 31, 2029.
The amendment to the Waste Transnational Movement Act, which increases the permit period for waste imports to 36 months and restricts waste exports to stabilize domestic supply and demand, also passed the National Assembly threshold.
