Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

South Korea and Czech Republic Sign MoU on Nuclear Cooperation

      South Korea and the Czech Republic signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate on nuclear power last week.   Korea's Deputy Energy Minister Chung Yang-ho and Czech Vice Trade and Industry Minister Lenka Kovacovska attended the signing ceremony in Prague. date2015-12-08

Korean government to increase the number of eco-friendly cars to one million by 2020

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced the "3rd Master Plan for the Development and Supply of Eco-Friendly Cars" on December 08. Here are the details:     A total of 80,000 eco-friendly cars were produced this year, and the number will increase to 920,000 in 2020. The number of imported eco-friendly cars will also increase from 50,000 to 640,000 in the same year.     Currently there are 180,000 eco-friendly cars in Korea, and the plan is to increase the number to 1.08 million by 2020. This means that 20 percent of the entire volume of cars will be eco-friendly.     The plan also includes securing technological competitiveness to improve the price competitiveness of eco-friendly cars from 44 percent to 72 percent, and technological level from 93 percent to 96 percent in comparison with other advanced countries.     To achieve these goals, MOTIE came up with the three following strategies:     1. Develop competitive eco-friendly cars     Invest a total of 150 billion($ 132 million) in R&D over a period of 5 years with the aim to improve the performance of core parts in order overcome the limitations of eco-friendly cars such as short driving range and high price.     Improve the performance of batteries and other important parts to improve the performance and driving range by 2.5 times, and shave off the price of hydrogen vehicles by more than 40 percent by using new materials and developing new high pressure vessels.     2. Expand low cost and high efficiency infrastructure     Build 1,400 public EV charging stations and 80 hydrogen charging stations by 2020 to make it easier for eco-friendly car owners to charge their car.     Also build "Fusion Charging Stations" with gas, CNC and hydrogen charging stations in order to reduce the cost of building hydrogen charging stations, which cost about KRW3 billion won to build. In addition, build "Module Charging Stations" by making the charging parts in modules for space efficiency. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to run test projects from 2016.     3. Build social infrastructure for using eco-friendly cars     Offer subsidies to people wishing to buy eco-friendly cars, build charging stations and offer operating subsidies by 2020.     In 2016, the subsidies are 27.5 million won for hydrogen cars, 12 million won for EV's, 5 million won for PHV's and 1 million won for HV's     Specify the management system for EV charging business and propose a hydrogen pricing guideline in order to promote related industries to help ensure profits for both the eco-friendly car owners and charging station owners.     Offer a reasonable price for charging EV's at public charging stations, which are currently provided for free, in order to establish a more stable basis for users, and reduce the hydrogen price by purchasing in large quantities.     New systems are also on the way.     EV car parking spaces will be mandatory in new apartment buildings to make it easier to install charging stations, and issue different license plates for EV's.     Also, buildings installed with an EV charging station will be given Green Building Certificate Points, and EV tuning businesses will receive support.     * Short version date2015-12-08

Joint Korea-Czech nuclear power cooperation committee discusses measures to enter third countries

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on December 03 that MOTIE and Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade held the Joint Korea-Czech Nuclear Power Cooperation Committee meeting in Prague on December 1, 2015. The meeting was attended by over 40 delegates and representatives of businesses in the nuclear power industry.     The meeting was focused on establishing a plan for promoting new nuclear power plants in Czech, joint marketing in third countries and joint research on EU-APR.     The meeting was followed by a business conference the afternoon with the participation of business representatives, who had one-on-one conversation on nuclear power plant operation, fuel, maintenance and materials, as well as localization and cooperation in tapping into third countries.     Also after the joint committee meeting, an MOU on nuclear power cooperation was signed between Skoda Praha, a subsidiary of CEZ, and KEPCO. According to the MOU, the two companies agreed to jointly develop new nuclear power businesses, operate/maintain nuclear power plants, establish a supply network and exchange new technologies.     On the next day, KHNP signed a consulting agreement with Skoda Praha on obtaining the EUR certificate. The EUR (European Utility Requirements) are nuclear reactor design requirements for European businesses necessary when bidding for a new nuclear power plant project.     The two companies agreed to make joint efforts to obtain the EUR certificate until 2017.     According to the New Nuclear Power Plant Construction Plan announced by CEZ in May 2015, the Republic of Czech will decide on a new nuclear power business model by June 2015 and suppliers through public bidding before 2019.     The Republic of Czech currently has a total of 6 nuclear power plants ---4 in Dukovany and 2 in Temelin --- and these power plants generate about 35 percent of the electricity used in the country.     * Short version   date2015-12-03

Energy vouchers to be issued from December 2015

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 30 that energy vouchers (Heating Card) will be issued from December 2015.     There are two different types of Energy Voucher: Plastic Card and Virtual Card. Plastic cards are issued by any of the Public Happiness Card Companies (BC, Lotte, Samsung). If you already have one, you don't have to have another one issued, and you can start using the card from December 2015.     The credit card companies currently accept applications via phone. If you want to have the card issued to you faster, visit one of the branches nearby.     The Virtual Card is for disabled people or those living in an apartment. Virtual Card holders don't have to have an actual card to choose power, gas or regional heating bill to be automatically paid from the voucher amount.     The Energy Voucher can be used from December 2015 to the end of March 2016. If you have any balance left in the voucher, it will be automatically deducted from the April power bill.     Welfare/medical beneficiaries who are over 65 years old or any households with a child under the age of 6 or under or a disabled person can qualify for the Energy Voucher.     The voucher amount differs by the number of family members, but it's usually 100,000 won ($90). The application deadline is the end of January 2016. In the month of November 2015 alone, more than 200,000 people have applied for the voucher.     * Short version date2015-11-30

Third MOTIE-ADB Joint Energy Forum Discusses Better Parnership for Energy-Related New Businesses

      The Third MOTIE-ADB Joint Energy Forum took place in Seoul yesterday under the theme of `Strengthening Cooperation Partnership for Energy-Related New Business to Cope with New Climate Change Regime.'   About 160 participants from eight developing countries, including Bambang Susantono, vice president for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), attended this year's gathering.   In an opening speech, Lee Sang-jin, the MOTIE's director-general for economic cooperation, introduced South Korea's plan to develop energy-related new businesses over the next 15 years.   He also stressed the importance of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific in the areas such as energy storage systems (ESS) and energy management systems (EMS) with support from South Korea and the ADB. date2015-11-27

Farmers able to check out duty-free oil prices at Opinet

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 16 that anyone can check out duty-free agricultural oil prices at Opinet (www.spinet.co.kr) launched and operated by the Korea National Oil Corporation. The website is designed to help farmers find the best price for their oil.     While leaded and unleaded gasoline prices that have been open for comparison at the site, duty-free agricultural oil prices were not, leaving the farmers at a loss to find out the best price.     To solve this problem, the MOTIE and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs joined hands to provide duty-free oil prices through Opinet from November 16.     A total of 658 Nonghyup gas stations and 480 other brand gas stations have agreed to post their price on Opinet for farmers.     The MOTIE plans to revise relevant laws and regulations to make it mandatory for all the remaining 4,544 gas stations in South Korea to post their oil prices on Opinet.     Once revised, gas stations will also be forced to display their duty-free oil price in addition to leaded and unleaded gasoline prices starting from January 1, 2015, making it easier for farmers to know how much money they can save on tax.     * Short version date2015-11-16

MOTIE signs MOU to utilize warm water from power plants

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 12 that MOTIE and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries signed an MOU to remove barriers between their divisions for the utilization of the warm water from power plants. After signing the MOU, they created new fish farms around Boryeong Thermal Power Plant and Nam-Jeju Thermal Power Plant. These fish farms mostly grow spotted bass eggs and young striped beakfish.     One example of using the power plant water for fish farming is the Busan Natural Gas Power Plant, which is a project participated by the power plant, Korea Maritime Institute and National Institute of Fisheries Science. A heat storage system is also installed to maximize the use of the warm water, so that the heat supply can cover a wider area.     Korea is not the only country using the power plant water, as many European countries and the US have already been using the power plant water for fish farming, tropical botanical gardens and crocodile farms. As for Korea, the country plans to be competitive in using the power plant water as a new source of growth convergence with ITC.     * Short version date2015-11-12

New Shin Wolsong nuclear plant units 1 & 2 now in operation for more power supply

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on November 09 that Shin Wolsong Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2 with a power generation capacity of 1,000MW each are now in operation.     The MOTIE held an opening ceremony at the new power plant units located in Wolseong, Gyeongju, South Korea on November 9, 2015 with the participation of more than 1,000 related parties and local residents.     With these new units, total power reserves will increase by 3.4 percent, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 13 million tons.     A total of 5 trillion won have been invested in this project since it was launched in October 2005, and over 700 billion worth of economic activities are expected to be generated from this.     * Short version date2015-11-09

Government to not tolerate local votes on Yeongdeok nuclear power plant

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of the Interior announced their official stance on local residents' vote on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Yeongdeok, Gyeongsangbuk-do on November 05.     Both agencies asked the local residents not to participate in the vote saying "Any demands to turn over the decision to implement a national policy determined after voluntary requests of local governments and legitimate procedures through votes without any legal basis will not be tolerated."     They announced that: 1) The votes are not legally valid according to the "Local Autonomy Act" and 2) Any forms of the Yeongdeok-gun Office's administrative support including facility, human resources and funding for the votes which has no legal basis, and votes by town leaders will not be tolerated.     The government agencies further went on to say that they have proposed 10 different programs that are beneficial to the local residents on October 20 in reflection of their wishes and worries, and that these 10 programs will help the local residents protect their health and prevent them from their or their children's migration to other regions for reasons of education and jobs.     This announcement will be signed both by the MOTIE and Minister of Interior, and sent to each of the towns in Yeongdeok-gun in the form of a letter.     * Short version date2015-11-05

MOTIE and Iraq Discuss Ways to Develop Energy Cooperation

            Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick welcomed a visit by Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Fayadh Hassan Nima in his satellite office in Seoul this week to discuss energy cooperation between Korea and the Middle Eastern country.   The visit came as the MOTIE hosted the 2nd Korea-Iraq Joint Committee for Oil Gas Cooperation meeting in Seoul this week eight years after the first meeting in 2007.   MOTIE Second Vice Minister Moon Jae-do and his Iraqi counterpart Hassan led their delegations to discuss how to study and develop Iraq's abundant oil and gas together. date2015-10-28