It is still working to curb air pollution.

South Korea plans to temporarily close 21 to 28 coal-fired power units in March 2020, in a bid to reduce air pollution. Up to 16 coal-fired power units may be stopped for planned maintenance, 4 old coal-fired power units and up to 8 other units would be concerned by this March 2020 shutdown. In addition, South Korea will cap the operations of the remaining coal-fired power units (up to 37) at 80%.

Since 2017, the government has resorted to temporary closure of coal-fired power plants that are more than 3 decades old. In November 2019, the government decided to permanently decommission six older coal-fired power units with a total capacity of 2.6 GW by 2021, a year before than previously planned. The current administration has also completely suspended the construction of coal-fired power plants in 2017.

In 2018, coal accounted for 29% of installed capacity and for 44% of power generation.

Guest post from ASIANPOWER