South Korea, UK discuss clean energy cooperation

South Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang and the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps discussed cooperation in the area of clean energy during a meeting in Seoul on Monday.

According to an announcement by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, a joint declaration by the parties includes prospects of South Korea’s participation in the UK’s new nuclear power plant initiave, as well as exchange and cooperation between the countries on areas such as offshore wind power and hydrogen.

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Nuclear is one of the accents in the UK’s energy security efforts and Shapps recently announced the launch of Great British Nuclear to drive the delivery of new nuclear projects.

According to Lee, complementary cooperation in the field of nuclear energy is possible. “South Korea’s strengths lie in design, construction and main equipment production, while the UK’s lie in decommissioning and nuclear fuel,” the minister said.

In other clean energy areas, South Korea’s minister expects greater collaboration by combining his country’s manufacturing capacity and UK’s offshore wind power know-how.

The countries could also cooperate on hydrogen, with South Korea having technological knowledge in hydrogen application such as hydrogen cars, and the UK possessing technology in solid polymer electrolysis (SPE) and hydrogen production.