Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 25 2021

AsiaElec COAL-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec

Three South Korean insurers to withdraw

from new coal power projects

SOUTH KOREA THREE major South Korean insurance com- players to withdraw from new coal.
panies are to stop providing cover for new coal In 2020, Samsung Group’s insurance subsid-
power projects. iaries, including Samsung Fire & Marine Insur-
DB Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insur- ance, said they would ban further investments in
ance and Hana Insurance said they would stop the coal industry.
underwriting the construction and operation The insurers’ strategies come as coal power is
new coal power projects, Reuters reported. under increasing pressure in South Korea.
However, there was disagreement over In March, civic group Solutions for Our Cli-
the insurers’ exposure to their existing coal mate called for the backers of the Samcheok Blue
operations. Power Plant, the country’s last coal-to-power
DB Insurance said it would gradually retreat project under development, to end their support.
from its existing insurance coverage for oper- South Korean banks such as the Korea Devel-
ating coal plants, while the other two said they opment Bank, the Industrial Bank of Korea and
would not reduce their existing insurance the National Agricultural Cooperative Federa-
coverage. tion are supporting the $3.8bn project.
As well as investors, insurance compa- A total of seven banks have so far committed
nies have been under pressure to reduce their KRW1.2 trillion ($1bn) to the project.
involvement in fossil fuels, with insurers from The project is being developed by Doosan
South Korea and Japan being especially active in Heavy Industries & Construction, Posco Energy
Asia’s coal power market. and Posco Engineering & Construction.
The decision follows pressure from a net- A coalition of South Korean activist groups
work of civic groups named Korea Beyond Coal, has called on the state-run Board of Audit and
which has advocated for a complete coal phase- Inspection (BAI) to look into the financial insti-
out in South Korea by 2030. tutions’ “remedy of financial negligence.”
Korea Beyond Coal said this week that as At present, there are four coal power projects
well as the three insurers, another South Korean under construction in South Korea, with two set
company, Hanwha General Insurance, would no to start operation in 2021 and one in 2023.
longer insure the construction and operation of The Samcheok project, the last of the four and
new coal power projects. widely believed to be the last coal power plant
According to National Assembly member under construction in South Korea, was sched-
Lee So-young, total coal underwritings by major uled to start its operation in 2024.
South Korean insurers stand at $52.18bn, with The South Korean government pledged in
Samsung Fire & Marine, DB Insurance and October 2020 to aim for a net-zero economy by
Hyundai Marine & Fire being the three biggest 2050.
coal insurers. The country produced 28.1% of its electricity
This latest decision follows on from previ- using coal in 2020, according to data from the
ous announcements by the country’s insurance Energy Ministry.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 23•June•2021