The UK and South Korea will share nuclear, wind and other forms of renewable energy technologies and expertise under a new agreement due to be finalised at this week’s Clean Energy Ministerial in London.
The South Korean Knowledge Economy Ministry said today an initial agreement on nuclear and renewable energy is due to be signed on Friday 27 April.
The deal was later confirmed by a spokesman from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
“On Friday we expect to sign a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South Korea extending our collaboration into energy,” he told BusinessGreen in an emailed statement. “A current MOU covers science, technology and innovation.”
A similar partnership is also expected to be struck between the Korean Wind Energy Industry Association and trade body RenewableUK.
A spokesman for RenewableUK confirmed the alliance was scheduled to be finalised, but declined to provide further details.
However, the Korean ministry said in a statement seen by news agency Bloomberg that it expects the accord between the two countries to help its domestic companies invest in the UK’s clean energy sector, which according to a report from the Renewable Energy Association (REA) released earlier this week could top £50bn by 2020.
South Korea’s interests in the UK’s renewable energy sector were highlighted recently by Samsung’s plans to build a £100m wind turbine factory in Fife and its multimillion-pound deal to purchase gear box systems from Yorkshire-based David Brown Gear Systems.
However, last week another Korean giant, Doosan Power Systems, shelved plans for a potential £170m investment in a UK wind turbine facility.
The latest news comes just days after the UK inked an agreement with the US to accelerate the development of floating wind turbines.
A number of similar bilateral agreements, including a biodiesel partnership between the UK and Brazil, are expected to be announced this week as ministers from 23 leading economies come together for the summit.
