South Korea urged to reset power plan for AI, chips
· UPIJuly 7 (Asia Today) -- South Korea should redraw its national power supply plan from scratch as electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centers and semiconductor plants is expected to exceed earlier government forecasts, energy experts said Tuesday.
The call comes as the government prepares a new power plan while pursuing major projects in AI, semiconductors and advanced industry.
According to the energy industry, the government has announced plans for 18.4 gigawatts of AI data centers and four semiconductor fabrication plants requiring 6.3 gigawatts of power.
If operated around the clock, the AI data centers would require about 161.2 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, while the new semiconductor fabs would need about 55.2 terawatt-hours. Together, they would require an estimated 216.4 terawatt-hours annually.
That would exceed the 178 terawatt-hour increase in electricity consumption forecast for 2024 to 2038 under South Korea's 11th Basic Plan for Long-Term Electricity Supply and Demand.
Experts say the 12th power plan should redesign the country's energy mix to cover nuclear power, renewable energy, thermal power, transmission grids and energy storage systems. Some also say the government should consider continued use of existing thermal power plants if new power sources and transmission networks are delayed.
Sohn Yang-hoon, professor emeritus of economics at Incheon National University, said the government must reconsider both electricity demand and the power generation mix under the 12th plan after announcing the three mega-projects.
Sohn said AI data centers and semiconductor clusters would require more electricity than the increase assumed in the previous power plan, making it unrealistic to base the next energy mix on past forecasts.
Because AI data centers and semiconductor fabs require stable electricity 24 hours a day, Sohn said South Korea should maintain operating nuclear and thermal power plants while considering at least four additional nuclear reactors.
"The electricity required by the mega-projects exceeds the assumptions of the existing power supply plan," Sohn said. "To meet realistic electricity demand, this is not a situation where we can easily reduce immediately available power sources such as nuclear and thermal power."
Other experts said the power plan should be rebuilt from the demand survey stage because it has not sufficiently reflected the rapid growth of electricity demand from AI data centers, semiconductors and electric vehicles.
They also said nuclear power is becoming more important as a baseload source as South Korea phases out coal-fired power plants.
Jeong Beom-jin, professor of nuclear engineering at Kyung Hee University, said South Korea must maintain a more flexible and sufficient power supply framework to prevent electricity shortages from becoming an obstacle to industrial growth.
"As electricity demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles and other electrification trends rises rapidly, the power supply plan should have more room so that it does not hinder industrial growth," Jeong said.
"The gap left by coal-fired baseload power must be fully filled by nuclear power to stabilize electricity rates and secure industrial competitiveness," he said. "In the long term, South Korea should also consider expanding the share of nuclear power in the power generation mix to more than 50%."
-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260707010002579