South Korea has ambitious decarbonisation targets. By 2030, it aims to cut national emissions by 40% from 2018 levels across eight sectors including power generation, industry, transportation, buildings, waste, hydrogen and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS).
Yet the country’s situation is challenging. The Korean economy is driven by a power system dominated by coal and liquified natural gas (LNG) and an industrial base centred on steel, cement and petrochemicals, while its transport system is also carbon-intensive. The energy, industrial and transport sectors respectively account for 37%, 36% and 14% of national emissions.
Korea’s climate strategy recognises these issues and places strong emphasis on enabling technologies to address them. However, many of the solutions – including CCUS, hydrogen-based steelmaking, bioplastics and offshore wind power – are immature or not yet commercially viable at scale.
Both government and industry are investing heavily to close these gaps, with plans to deploy approximately $99 billion in cleantech by 2030. And this is creating significant opportunities for global climatetech companies, as Korea increasingly looks abroad for the innovations it needs.
Let’s take a closer look at the challenges in the country’s energy sector and highlight where international innovators can play a pivotal role – and I’ll take a similar look at its industrial and transport sectors in the near future.
Korea continues to rely heavily on nuclear, coal and LNG, which account for around 32%, 28% and 28% of its power mix respectively, while renewables represent only around 10.5% as of 2024 – far below the 41% average for OECD countries.
Under its latest energy roadmap, the Korean government aims to reduce coal and LNG to 10% each by 2038, maintain nuclear at around 35% and increase renewable energy to 33%. Hydrogen and fuel cells are expected to contribute to a further 7%.
And delivering this transformation will require rapid advances across four major technology areas: offshore wind, high-efficiency solar energy, hydrogen and next-generation nuclear power.
Korea’s geography poses significant challenges for renewable deployment. The country is 2.4 times smaller than the UK and 70% of it is mountainous, limiting space for onshore wind and large-scale solar power. As a result, the country is prioritising offshore wind and next-generation high-efficiency solar technologies to make the most of its coastline and maximise its solar output.
Despite its 2030 wind capacity target exceeding 17 GW, progress has been slow: only around 3.5 GW across 11 projects is in advanced stages of approval or construction.
Yes, Korea’s strengths in marine construction and shipbuilding position it well for offshore development. But it lacks experience in large-scale (14+ MW) turbine technology, floating wind structures and advanced operations and monitoring systems.
Korean firms are investing aggressively to close these gaps.
Doosan Enerbility and Unison, for example, are developing 10 MW turbines and larger – but that still puts them behind global leaders such as Siemens Gamesa, which is producing a 20 MW-class model – while SK Ecoplant and Daewoo E&C have invested in substructure and floating capabilities.
In solar energy, Korea has long been a major PV player, but is increasingly challenged by lower-cost Chinese manufacturers. To stay competitive, Korean companies are shifting their focus to tandem and next-generation solar cells with efficiencies above 30%.
Hanwha Qcells, for example, plans to commercialise tandem cells by 2027 and is targeting efficiencies approaching the theoretical 44% limit. This is creating opportunities for international firms specialising in advanced materials, perovskites and high-efficiency cell architectures.
Korea has reversed its plan to phase out nuclear energy and is investing heavily in exporting its nuclear plant technology and advancing Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The government, for instance, has allocated $300 million to commercialise a 170 MW SMR by 2028.
Korean conglomerates are moving quickly to grab their share of the growing SMR market through global partnerships. SK Group, for example, has invested $268 million in Bill Gates-founded TerraPower, while Doosan Enerbility, Samsung C&T and GS Energy have invested in and partnered with US SMR developers including NuScale Power and X-Energy.
The market remains in its early stages, offering opportunities for international companies with advanced reactor designs, modular construction technologies, digital twin solutions and safety and monitoring systems.
For insights into the parallel rise of SMR projects in Southeast Asia, see my colleague Priyankar’s recent article.
Another major unresolved challenge is nuclear waste management. Korea aims to establish a long-term storage site by 2060 but, in the interim, is exploring innovative solutions for handling medium and high-level waste.
Meanwhile, nuclear fusion holds strong potential for Korea, but is in its infancy with extensive international collaboration and investment required to progress toward commercialisation.
Hydrogen also features prominently in Korea’s 2050 net-zero roadmap, with huge investments needed across the value chain including large-scale hydrogen production, storage and utilisation.
Hydrogen combustion and turbine systems are an important emerging focus. Korean companies have begun blending hydrogen and LNG for gas turbines, with Doosan Enerbility, for example, developing a 400 MW hydrogen combustion turbine with a 50% hydrogen blend. Moving toward higher blends – and, eventually, 100% hydrogen firing – will require deeper collaboration with leading international turbine and combustion technology developers.
Korea plans to develop a 10 MW-scale electrolyser using proton exchange membrane (PEM) and alkaline electrolysers, but lacks expertise in emerging technologies including Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell (SOEC) and Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) systems where major opportunities for international firms lie.
On the utilisation side, overseas technology has already played a decisive role for Korean companies developing phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) and proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and those investing in high-efficiency solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).
A good example is the collaboration we facilitated between British clean energy firm Ceres and Korean energy giant Doosan, which led to a £36 million deal for Ceres and the construction of Korea’s first SOFC manufacturing facility, which is now operational.
As Korea plans to import most of its green hydrogen, technologies related to hydrogen storage, transport and conversion will also be essential. The country aims to commercialise 40,000 m3 liquid hydrogen tanks by 2040, creating demand for global innovators in liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) systems, liquefaction technology, hydrogen storage tanks and pipe network systems, plus large-scale ammonia storage and transportation.
So, Korea’s net-zero transition is an immense national undertaking.
The country faces a tough challenge in decarbonising its energy sector and international contributions will be crucial, opening considerable opportunities for companies from around the world with the right technologies, approaches and in-market partners.
The case is similar for the nation’s industrial and transport sectors, and I’ll return to address those in more detail soon.
To discuss the opportunities for your business to help Korea reach its net zero goals, you can contact Ayoub at ayoub.ouahidi@intralinkgroup.com.