South Korea said on August 27 it will build 10 more nuclear power plants by 2030 and increase its renewable energy resources as part of a $100 billion plan to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
The county has few natural energy sources and already uses nuclear plants to generate nearly a third of its power needs but hopes to increase that to nearly 60%. It will create more renewable energy resources to meet the country's growing power needs and protect the environment, the National Energy Committee (NEC) announced.
The NEC called for a dramatic increase in the amount of energy South Korea gets from renewable sources including solar and wind power and biofuels, from 2.4% of total consumption today to 11% by 2030.
By 2012, at least a million homes in South Korea will rely on renewable energy sources, it said.
The plan would save the country $34.4 billion in energy import bills by the target year and help create 950,000 new jobs, energy authorities said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
