Government to Establish Semiconductor Cluster Power Supply Roadmap Within the Year

The government plans to establish a roadmap within this year to ensure stable power supply for the new semiconductor cluster.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it held the 2nd meeting of the 'Power Grid Innovation Task Force (TF)' co-chaired by Cheon Young-gil, Director of the Energy Policy Office, and Joo Young-jun, Director of the Industrial Policy Office. The meeting aimed to explore measures to supply power promptly to advanced industries such as the system semiconductor cluster.

Earlier, in March, the government announced that it would establish a semiconductor cluster in Gyeonggi Province by 2042 to secure a competitive edge in advanced industries such as semiconductors and secondary batteries. Accordingly, it has begun timely construction of the power grid to meet corporate demand for power supply.

In fact, the power required for the Yongin semiconductor cluster over one year amounts to 28,000 GWh (gigawatt-hours). This exceeds half of the power generated by renewable energy sources such as solar and wind in South Korea last year.

At the meeting, there was consensus that measures should be prepared to identify and respond in advance to risks such as low social acceptance in order to build power facilities in a timely manner.

Director Cheon of the Energy Policy Office stated, "We will prepare an optimized, customized power supply roadmap within this year, considering the power demand of the semiconductor cluster and the conditions of the nearby power system," adding, "We will also establish a system to supply power promptly to other advanced industries such as secondary batteries and bio industries."

Meanwhile, the meeting also reviewed the progress of the spring season grid stabilization measures. Efforts focused on improving the inverter performance of solar power generation facilities, and with the cooperation of renewable energy operators, performance improvements were completed for about 92% (2,549 MW) of the target volume (2,783 MW) by the end of September.

Aerial View of Yongin Semiconductor Cluster