- Partnership will be signed in London by Energy Security
Secretary and RoK’s Minister for
Trade, Industry and Energy, Bang Moon Kyu
- Agreement will bolster cooperation on low carbon
technologies, civil nuclear, and tackling climate change
- Builds on existing energy and climate agreements between the
two nations, as part of efforts to accelerate the global
transition to net zero
A new Clean Energy Partnership between the UK and the Republic of
Korea (RoK) will be agreed tomorrow (Wednesday 22 November) to
boost energy security and accelerate the clean energy transition.
The partnership will be signed in London by Energy Security
Secretary and RoK’s Minister for
Trade, Industry and Energy, Bang Moon Kyu. 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, to
work together to phase out of 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.
Energy Security Secretary said:
“The UK and the Republic of Korea already have a strong
relationship on energy security and tackling climate change.
"The new partnership we will sign will see us collaborate even
more closely, driving forward shared plans to accelerate clean
energy sources, like renewables and nuclear power.
“This will help us make the green transition, while supporting
the injection of more than £10bn into the UK economy from South
Korean businesses and the thousand skilled jobs that come with
that."
The partnership will see both countries commit to:
- Strengthening cooperation on civil nuclear,
including on large scale, small scale and advanced reactors,
decommissioning and waste management, and supply chains -
important as both nations develop clean energy sources, and
reduce the global nuclear industry’s dependence on Russia.
- 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.
- Exploring shared priorities for UK-RoK hydrogen
collaboration, building on engagement through existing
forums.
- 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.
- Enhancing R&D cooperation via the UK-RoK
Science, Technology and Innovation Partnership, and to deepen
cooperation via other channels including Mission Innovation.
The clean energy partnership will elevate existing areas of
bilateral cooperation on energy between the two countries, in
particular building on the UK-RoK Civil Nuclear Dialogue and the
previously agreed UK-RoK Offshore Wind Memorandum of
Understanding to accelerate offshore wind deployment.
These agreements will advance the Republic of Korea’s transition
to clean energy while creating high-value jobs in the UK’s green
supply chain.
Already, RoK has a target of 14.3GW of offshore wind by 2030 –
with UK companies winning a significant number of RoK offshore
wind engineering contracts. Additionally, there are a number of
investment commitments from UK and RoK companies, helping to
accelerate offshore wind development:
- RoK’s SeAH Wind Ltd is making a £650 million investment to
build a new factory and manufacture offshore wind monopiles in
Teesside, creating up to 750 jobs by 2030.
- UK offshore wind developer Corio Generation, with a portfolio
exceeding 30GW and a total value of approximately £146 billion
across 10 countries, is expanding its offshore wind presence,
particularly in the UK and Republic of Korea.
Louise Kingham, Head of Country at BP said:
“BP is delighted to reconfirm our support to developing offshore
wind in South Korea, working in partnership with stakeholders to
support the country’s energy transition.”
This further investment and closer collaboration follows over
three decades of the UK and RoK working together on advancing
nuclear power generation, underpinned by the Nuclear Cooperation
Agreement made in 1991.
