The first Cooperation Committee Meeting of the Korean-German Energypartnership was successfully held to discuss the results of the cooperation so far and set the goals and priorities for the future activities within the energy partnership.

Dr. Dominik Schnichels, Director General of External Economic Policy at teh Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and Mr. Young-Ghil Cheon, Deputy Minister for Energy Industry at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), opened the meeting with an update on current energy policy in the two countries and a fruitful exchange on national and global energy related challenges and approaches to address them. Both sides stressed the need to deal with rising energy prices and the importance of shielding vulnerable groups. Furthermore, the social acceptance of renewable energies, offshorewindenergy , energyefficiency, energy-storage systems, EVs, smart grids, and green hydrogen certification were among the many topics discussed. These topics will be followed-up upon further in the respective working groups on Energy Transition and New Green Energy Technologies.

Furthermore, the past and future Korean-German Energy Day was discussed. The last event in December 2022 on the economic potentials of net zero was already the 4th KGED in the history of the Korean-German dialogue on energy-related issues, bringing together decision-makers from policy, industry and research. The fifth edition of the format is expected to take place at the end of May 2023 back-to-back with the World Climate Industry Expo 2023 in Busan, Korea.

In conclusion, all participants of the meeting acknowledged the good cooperation so far and expressed their motivation to further deepen the exchange within the partnership in the future.

Find the full report of the conference here.

The 4th Korean-German Energy Day took place  on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) as a physical conference in Berlin. It was co-organized by the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) and adelphi, and supported by the OAV – German Asia-Pacific Business Association, the IER – Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use at the University of Stuttgart, and the Wuppertal Institute.

The main topic of the 4th Korean-Germany Energy Day was “Net Zero: Embrace the opportunities of the Energy Transition”. Aligned with the event’s title this year’s Korean-German Energy Day explored different opportunities of the energy transition against the backdrop of this challenging time of global energy insecurity that we are currently facing.

The conference was opened with video messages from the co-hosts Dr. Patrick Graichen, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), and Mr. Young-Ghil Cheon, Deputy Minister for Energy Industry at the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). Both stressed the urgency of joint action through deepened international cooperation and the particular importance of strengthening energy security and the efforts towards carbon neutrality. As industry representatives, Ms. Danielle Jarski, Chief Development Officer (CDO) Offshore Wind of RWE Renewables, and Mr. Seong-Jun Bae, Vice President for Energy Strategy of SK ecoplant, provided insights from the German and Korean industry perspective. Both highlighted their companies’ efforts in contributing to a fully renewable energy supply, in the transition towards a circular economy and expressed their intention to deepen cooperation with Korean and German partners, respectively.

The remainder of the day was filled with insightful presentations on the current status of hydrogen policies and hydrogen pilot projects from both Germany and Korea, on energy efficiency best practices and the effectiveness of policy measures to increase energy efficiency. Three distinct panel discussions with diverse perspectives from experts in policy, industry, academia and research on (1) the economic opportunities of the energy transition, (2) the current status and industry examples for clean hydrogen, and (3) the effectiveness of different energy efficiency policy measures, completed the conference.

The event in retrospect provided a platform for energy experts from government, industry, research and civil society to exchange views, engage with one another, finally network again in face-to-face encounters and learn from each other’s experiences.

Besides the meetings of two working groups of the Korean-German Energy Partnership, the business exchange sub-committee of the Working Group on “Nuclear Decommissioning” reconvened for the 4th time on 6th December in Berlin. The focus was to discuss the current status on nuclear decomissioning in Germany and Korea and potential for future cooperation.

The ongoing developments in Germany and Korea were considered via presentations from Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service mbH (NS) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). In the following discussion, the Korean representatives stressed the so far limited experience of Korea with decommissioning, treatment and disposal of nuclear waste and reactors. On the other hand, Germany gained experience with nuclear decommissioning while phasing out their nuclear power plants. Therefore, both sides are interested in continuing the exchange on the hands-on knowledge from Germany and the sharing of best practice examples.

Following the meeting of the WG1 on “Energy Transition”, the 4th meeting of the Working Group on “New Green Energy Technologies” took place in Berlin on December 6th.

The MOTIE and the BMWK discussed recent policy developments in the respective partner country such as the newly introduced policy measures to support the domestic hydrogen industry by the Korean government. Moreover, the German ministry shared its current efforts regarding the deployment of green hydrogen projects in light of the spiking energy prices. The meeting then focused on hydrogen certification schemes. An overview over national and international initiatives for clean and green H2-certification was given via a presentation from adelphi. This was followed by presentations from dena and H2-Korea and a discussion on the specific cases of Korea and Germany/in the EU. 
Overall, representatives of the ministries welcomed the active work of the working group and praised the success of the implemented formats. Both sides are looking forward to future cooperation and the upcoming meetings.

On 6th December 2022, the third meeting of the Working Group on “Energy Transition” took place at the BMWK in Berlin. The meeting was the first in-person meeting of both partner ministries in a long time. Representatives from the MOTIE and the BMWK presented recent policy updates and developments on energy efficiency, renewable energies and discussed the effects of the ongoing energy crisis. Furthermore, the meeting presented a great opportunity to reflect on past and possible future activities of the working group, covering topics like offshore wind energy and energy efficiency. Both sides look forward to deepening the fruitful exchange in the next year!

On October 17, 2022, the Korean-German Business Forum on Offshore Wind Energy, co-organized by the German Embassy Seoul, the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK) and further supported by adlephi was held in Seoul.
The forum aimed to intensify business exchange and collaboration in the offshore wind industry and to provide a platform for the German and Korean governments to present their policies and lessons learned for the development of offshore wind. Leading German companies in the industry participated on-site to present their know-how and project progress in front of around 140 interested industry experts and decision makers. The Korea Wind Energy Industry Association and S&P Global Commodity Insights provided further insights into the Korean offshore wind market. Additionally, representatives of the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Action and the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy presented the status quo of offshore wind-related policies. Following the presentations from the private and public sector, a panel discussion was held on the topic: "Challenges and opportunities for the domestic offshore wind power industry and opportunities for cooperation between Korea and Germany". The forum successfully ended with a lively Q&A session between the audience and the panelists.