Kim Sung-hwan says industrial regional electricity pricing, new dam plans to be unveiled this month

Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy Kim Sung-hwan said Tuesday that the government would release its industrial regional electricity pricing proposal at a public hearing next week and gather public opinion on the plan.

Speaking at a press briefing at Government Complex Sejong, Kim said the ministry had decided to name the scheme the "industrial regional electricity pricing system" to avoid any misunderstanding that ordinary residents' electricity rates would also be differentiated by region.

Asked about plans to build new dams amid renewed attention to water management following recent droughts, Kim said the ministry would announce this month whether it would proceed with seven proposed new dam projects currently under review.

Under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the then-Ministry of Environment announced 14 candidate sites for new dams as part of efforts to respond to extreme rainfall and severe drought. Plans for seven of those sites were subsequently scrapped across the previous and current administrations, and the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy is now reviewing the remaining seven.

"We have conducted a detailed review of the remaining seven sites — examining their necessity, scale and alternatives — and have also considered forming a public deliberation committee to move forward where needed," Kim said. "We are in inter-agency consultations and expect to report by the end of August."

The ministry also plans to decide soon whether to include nuclear power plant operation and additional construction plans in the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, and to proceed with the related schedule.

On nuclear power operations, Kim said the ministry would finalize — at the earliest this week, or by next week at the latest — whether to include nuclear power in the 12th basic electricity plan and whether to conduct a public deliberation process involving experts and citizens to gauge public views on the matter.

On the semiconductor industry's calls for expanded LNG power generation to supply electricity to semiconductor clusters in Yongin and the Honam region, Kim said some increase in gas-fired generation was unavoidable and that discussions on how to reduce the resulting greenhouse gas emissions would also be necessary.

The current 11th basic electricity plan called for reducing LNG's share of power generation from 27.5 percent in 2023 to 11.1 percent by 2038, effectively putting the fossil fuel on a path to phase-out. Calls to expand LNG generation have since grown louder, particularly from the semiconductor and AI data center industries.

The 12th basic electricity plan is expected to go through public comment procedures including forums through September, with a government draft to be prepared around October before being finalized following reports to the National Climate Crisis Response Committee and the National Assembly.

On the worsening algae bloom problem driven by this summer's heat wave, Kim said the factors aggravating the situation had increased. He said the government would pursue measures to inject an additional 200 billion to 300 billion won ($212 million) into next year's budget to block as much total phosphorus — all organic and inorganic phosphorus dissolved in water — flowing into the Nakdong River as possible.