According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea, the country will invest a total of Won 42,000 bn (US$36.6bn) in its renewable energy sector by 2020.
Under the Ministry's plans, up to 13 GW of renewable power plants will be built by 2020. The renewable portfolio standard (RPS) will be raised from an earlier target of 4.5% to 5% in 2018 and will be raised again to 6% (up from 5%) in 2019 and to 7% in 2020 (up from 6%). For 2016, the RPS is set at 3.5%. Households having installed solar panels will be allowed to sell their power generation. South Korea aims to remove unnecessary regulations and to foster the renewable power sector.
In addition, South Korea confirmed plans to retire old coal-fired power plants, as announced in June 2016. The country plans to retire 10 ageing coal-fired power plants by 2025. Up to Won 10,000bn (US$8.7bn) will be invested in power plants closures and upgrading by 2030 to lower emissions. Two of the retired coal-fired power plants will be converted to biomass from 2017. Out of the remaining 43 coal-fired plants, eight older than 20-year will be retrofitted to cut emissions while the other will be equipped with emission-reduction facilities.
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