South Korean Energy Transistion Gains Momentum

On 4th and 5th October 2018, approx. 1.000 visitors met at the "Korea Energy Transition Conference 2018" in Seoul, South Korea. Prof. Dr. Peter Hennicke, Senior Advisor at the Wuppertal Institute, opened the conference with a keynote titled "The German Energiewende in a Global Context". In a subsequent Power Talk with Professor Sung-Jin Leem (Institute for Environmental and Energy Policy in South Korea), he further explained the opportunities and challenges of the South Korean and German energy transition. Talks by Felix Christian Matthes (Öko-Institut), Professor Detlef Stolten (Research Center Jülich), and Korean experts illustrated the significance of the German energy transition for the discussion about energy policy not only in South Korea, but also in Japan.

Both countries, South Korea and Japan, are watching the successes of the German transition carefully and with high interest for how renewable power generation is implemented. Can the German way be transferred to other countries? What about the deficits of the German energy transition – for example when it comes to traffic and buildings?
Recently, the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, decided to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency and to phase-out nuclear energy in the long run. "On the 'Korea Energy Efficiency Conference', this new policy contributed to a well perceivable atmosphere of change to fully decarbonise and risk minimising energy system," said Hennicke.