South Korea’s government unveiled a comprehensive Korea Green Transformation Strategy this week, a decade-long initiative aimed at transitioning the nation toward a carbon-neutral economy while maintaining sustainable economic growth. The plan targets the addition of 100 GW of renewable energy capacity to the national grid by 2030, alongside upgrades to transmission infrastructure to distribute the electricity efficiently. The government intends to finance this ambitious undertaking through investments of approximately $750 billion over the ten-year period.
The initiative prioritizes decarbonization efforts across South Korea’s most significant greenhouse gas-emitting sectors, including steel production, petrochemicals, cement manufacturing, semiconductors, displays, and petroleum refining. In the steel industry, the government is backing a demonstration project that will produce 300,000 tons of green steel by 2030 using hydrogen reduction instead of coal, with production expected to scale to 2.5 million tons by 2036. Full transition to hydrogen-based steel production is targeted for 2050. Major corporations including POSCO Holdings, Hanwha Qcells, LG Electronics, and Samsung Electronics have been enlisted to lead various decarbonization initiatives.
The transportation sector represents another key focus area, with the strategy designed to accelerate adoption of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. The government aims for these alternatives to comprise 70 percent of new vehicle sales by 2035, supported by expanded subsidies that may vary by region depending on local renewable energy availability. South Korea currently ranks eighth globally in EV market share at 3.8 percent but aims to become the third-largest supplier by 2035.
Additional objectives include commercializing solid-state batteries by 2027 and sodium-ion batteries by 2030, as well as becoming the first nation to mass-produce high-efficiency tandem solar cells by 2028. The government plans to expand grid capacity through HVDC transmission lines and higher-capacity wiring. Over half of climate financing will be directed to regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area, with at least 70 percent allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises. If successful, South Korea expects to become the world’s third-largest green economy.
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