Kim Sung-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, said the government could consider building new nuclear power plants as part of developing a semiconductor cluster in the southwestern region. The remarks are interpreted as reflecting a judgment that if more than four semiconductor fabs are built or large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) data centers are added, electricity demand would be difficult to meet without new nuclear plants. Currently, the southwestern region operates six nuclear reactors with a total generation capacity of 6 gigawatts (GW) at the Hanbit Nuclear Power Site in Yeonggwang County.
Appearing on a radio broadcast Sunday, Kim responded to a question about companies requesting additional nuclear plant construction in the southwestern region. "Because semiconductor fabs and AI data centers have the character of baseload power sources, if more are built, that is an area worth considering," he said.
Baseload power refers to a generation source that produces a constant amount of electricity 24 hours a day to meet minimum demand within the power grid. Korea mainly uses nuclear plants and coal-fired plants as baseload power. The point is that semiconductor fabs and AI data centers also use electricity steadily around the clock, so power must be supplemented with baseload sources. On Nov. 30, Kang Hoon-sik, Presidential Chief of Staff, also responded to a question about whether new nuclear plant construction was under consideration, saying, "You can assume that such content will be included in the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand."
Kim, who oversees Korea's energy policy, is leaving open the possibility of building additional nuclear plants because he has judged that future electricity demand cannot be met with renewable energy alone. "Electric vehicles and heat pumps are increasing, and on top of that there is a special semiconductor boom, and AI data centers and AI robots are all sharply increasing electricity demand," Kim said. "This is a time when serious public debate is needed on how to handle this."
According to the projections the government released to establish the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, annual electricity demand, which stood at 549.4 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025, is projected to rise 26.3% to 694.1 TWh by 2040. Adding the power demand from the three recently announced mega projects, electricity demand is expected to increase even more sharply. "To respond to the climate crisis, fossil fuels must not be used, but there are aspects that are difficult to achieve with renewable energy alone," Kim stressed. "We need to move toward a new energy mix system in which nuclear power is laid as a kind of baseload source, with renewable energy attached on top of it."
Kim also promised a speedy push to build infrastructure for the southwestern semiconductor cluster. Citing the fact that it took too long to develop the site for the Yongin semiconductor cluster in the past, he said, "That was a concept from the era of '50,000-won Samsung Electronics,' and now the situation is different." "50,000-won Samsung Electronics" refers to the period when Samsung Electronics' stock price moved sideways in the 50,000-won range. As the semiconductor industry emerges as a key future industry, the remark is interpreted as an intention to concentrate policy capacity on building infrastructure.
