Current Policy and Technology for Tidal Current Energy in Korea

• Main Authors: Dong-Hui Ko, Jaekwan Chung, Kwang-Soo Lee, Jin-Soon Park, Jin-Hak Yi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: eco-friendly energy policy; Korean energy policy; renewable energy; ocean energy; tidal current energy; ocean energy policy
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/9/1807

As global energy consumption continues to increase, the negative impact of global warming also grows. Therefore, eco-friendly energy policy is being established all over the world. Korea’s energy consumption problems are further complicated by the country’s high dependence on energy sourced overseas. Korean energy policy is evolving rapidly to address these problems. Korea has begun to phase out nuclear power and is focusing on developing new sources of renewable energy. So there has been substantial interest in the development of ocean energy. Of all ocean energy technologies, tidal current energy is the closest to the commercialization. Especially, the southwestern coast of Korea is the most promising candidate site for the development of tidal current energy owing to the abundant tidal current energy resource. Meanwhile, ocean energy policy is an important factor in determining the development of ocean energy. Thus, this paper presents the overview of the current status of policy and technology for the tidal current energy system in Korea. These policies explained in this paper can provide significant interest and motivation for the use of tidal current energy resources.