South Korea’s National Assembly has taken a step toward replacing its 13-year-old renewable energy quota system with a government-led auction model, as a key committee approved a substitute bill this week to abolish the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and phase out the certificate market underpinning it.
The proposed amendment, introduced via South Korea’s National Assembly Bill Information System in January, would shift the country’s solar and wind revenue support framework from obligation-based certificate trading to centrally procured long-term contracts, although it still requires additional review and a plenary vote before taking effect.
South Korea’s Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee approved the substitute bill on May 19 incorporating provisions from the original proposal, which was introduced by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jung-ho and 11 co-sponsors. The original bill proposed abolishing the RPS and establishing a contract market system in which the government sets renewable energy deployment volumes and targets, then selects developers through competitive auctions and awards long-term contracts. The substitute bill carries those provisions forward in revised form.
The RPS system, which has been in place since 2012, requires power generation companies with more than 500 MW of installed capacity to source a mandatory share of their total generation from renewables. The ratio began at 2% and has expanded to 15% this year, with a statutory cap of 25%. Under the system, obligated utilities can fulfill requirements by purchasing renewable energy certificates (REC) rather than directly building new renewable capacity. The bill’s sponsors argue that reliance on REC purchases rather than new investment has contributed to volatile certificate prices and slowed actual deployment.
If the legislation passes the full National Assembly, the REC spot market would be phased out. In its place, the government would pre-determine auction volumes, run competitive tenders, and award long-term contracts to selected developers – shifting revenue support from market-priced certificate trading to administratively set contract prices.
Energy Gyeongje Shinmun (EKN), a Korean energy trade publication, separately reported this week that climate and environmental advocacy group Plan 1.5 has criticized the substitute bill for failing to address what it described as a problematic substitute compliance provision. The group reportedly said the amendment sets no limit on how much renewable obligation can be met through fee payments rather than direct capacity deployment, potentially allowing companies to avoid building new facilities. It also warned that private generators currently subject to mandatory RPS obligations would be reclassified as target management entities, weakening enforceable requirements. EKN quoted Plan 1.5 as saying that the framework should be strengthened rather than relaxed to meet 2030 targets.
The substitute bill now proceeds to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee before a plenary National Assembly vote. No timeline for those stages has been announced.
The Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee bill approval follows a series of moves by Seoul to accelerate solar deployment through direct procurement. The government ran a 1 GW solar tender in 2025 with a ceiling price structure, and recently announced $223 million investment in grid upgrades, as well as plans to potentially extend a renewables bidding system pilot on Jeju island to the mainland.
South Korea had approximately 29.5 GW of cumulative installed solar capacity by the end of 2024, according to Korean Energy Agency figures. Renewables supplied 11.4% of the country’s electricity in 2025. The government is now targeting at least 20% of power generation from renewables and 100 GW of combined solar and wind capacity by 2030, according to a South Korean Ministry of Climate statement published in April.
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