South Korea Reduces Subsidies for Biomass Power

The government of South Korea in late 2024 announced it will end subsidies for new biomass energy projects and existing state-owned facilities that co-fire imported biomass with coal starting in 2025 and phase out subsidies privately owned facilities starting in 2026. Subsidies will remain in place to support the use of domestically sourced biomass.

A notice published by the government on Dec. 18 attributes the new policy to efforts to reduce dependence on imports and environmental concerns.

Data published by the International Energy Association shows the use of solid biofuels in Korea’s electricity generation grew significantly from 2015 through 2023, accounting for 7.455 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2023. The government notice indicates Vietnam and Russia are among the top suppliers of biomass fuel to South Korea.

The U.S. also exports a small volume of wood pellets to the country. According to data published by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. producers exported 31,456.9 metric tons of wood pellets to the South Korea in 2023. That volume accounted for less than 1% of the total volume of wood pellets exported from the U.S. during the year. During the first 11 months of 2024, the U.S. exported only 18.5 metric tons of wood pellets to South Korea, according to the USDA.