The combination of electrical and electronic technologies, such as AI, semiconductors, and electric vehicles, with renewable energy will determine industrial competitiveness. Bold choices from the government and businesses are crucial to ensuring Korea doesn't fall behind in this trend.

Professor Lim Chun-taek of the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) said in his keynote speech at the '2025 e4ds Tech Day' on the 9th, "Global energy investment is already shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and the electrification trend combined with electrical and electronic technologies is changing the industrial landscape."

Professor Lim Chun-taek cited projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), saying, “By 2050, 90% of electricity will come from renewable energy.” He added, “As of 2023, out of the 4,500 trillion won in global energy investment, 300 trillion won was focused on renewable energy. He explained, “Solar power, wind power, batteries, and power grids are the hottest fields.”

He also pointed out Korea's backward status in the renewable energy sector.

Professor Lim Chun-taek criticized, “Our country’s share of renewable energy generation is only 10%, the lowest among OECD countries,” and “Although we have sufficient technology and funding, we are far from global trends due to the absence of policies.”

The rapid growth of the electrical and electronics industries was also a major topic.

Professor Lim Chun-taek said, “Currently, data center power consumption is about 15% of the world’s total, but it is projected to double within five years.”

However, he added, “There were concerns about a surge in power demand even when PCs were popular in the past, but in reality, it was limited to 1-2% due to efficiency improvements,” and “There is no need to worry about an indiscriminate surge in power consumption as innovations in power efficiency continue in the AI and semiconductor fields.”

Additionally, “According to Google’s announcement, the power consumption of large language models (LLMs) has been reduced by 30 times in just one year,” and predicted that “AI power demand will gradually ease.”

Electric vehicles have been cited as an important indicator for measuring the speed of energy transition.

Professor Lim Chun-taek explained, “Electric vehicles are more than three times more energy efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles,” and “25% of new car sales worldwide are electric vehicles, and in China, half of them are electric vehicles.”

He continued, “In China, electric vehicles have become cheaper than internal combustion engine vehicles of the same class, and vehicles priced under 10 million won have appeared,” adding, “As price competitiveness is secured, distribution will accelerate further.”I foresaw it.

Changes in the battery industry were also mentioned.

“Battery prices have fallen by a tenth over the past decade, and this year they have fallen to $50 per kWh,” he said, emphasizing that “this is having a huge impact on both ESS (energy storage systems) and electric vehicles.”

It has also been projected that solar power generation efficiency can be increased from the current 22% to 40%.

Professor Lim said, “The tandem solar cell developed by China has already proven to be 35% efficient,” and “With this efficiency improvement, energy self-sufficiency is possible by utilizing just 1% of Korea’s land area.”

He also explained that wind power is also becoming larger, saying, “Currently, turbines of 20MW class are being distributed, and turbines of 30MW or more are being developed. As medium-speed turbines that can generate power even in areas with low wind speeds increase, the scope of application is expanding.”

Professor Lim cited the lack of policy as the biggest reason for the delay in Korea's energy transition.

“We have the technology and ample public funding, but we just don’t have the right policies,” he said. “We need to increase the share of renewable energy to at least 70% by 2050.”