South Korea, UK partner to boost RE, nuclear cooperation

The parties also discussed collaboration for offshore wind and hydrogen.

South Korea and the United Kingdom made a joint declaration for the countries’ cooperation in the transition to low-carbon power sources including nuclear, offshore wind and hydrogen.

In a statement, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Minister Lee Chang-Yand and UK State Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps discussed measures for nuclear energy cooperation including the areas of design, construction, production, decommissioning, fuel and small modular reactors.

Lee noted that South Korea has an edge in the areas of design, construction, and main equipment production, whilst the UK’s strength is on decommissioning and nuclear fuel, adding that “mutually beneficial cooperation is possible.”

The countries will also accelerate discussions on South Korea’s participation in the UK’s new nuclear power plant project.

The ministry said they also tackled other areas of clean energy cooperation, with Lee hoping to expand the countries’ scope of collaboration by integrating the Asian nation’s manufacturing capacity and the European country’s offshore wind know-how.

Lee also expects organic cooperation on hydrogen as South Korea has the technological capacity in hydrogen application, whilst the UK still leads in technological capabilities in solid polymer electrolysis and hydrogen production.