Ontkoppelde Beleidsmaatregelen: Marktgebaseerde Instrumenten voor Klimaatmitigatie in de Koreaanse Elektriciteitssector
Year: 2024
Type: dissertation
Abstract: An increasing number of countries are adopting market-based instruments, such as FiT or ETS policies, to advance a domestic energy transition. The Republic of Korea, one of the first in Asia to both subsidize renewable energy production and penalize the cost of fossil fuel-based electricity production through a carbon price, exemplify this trend. However, over two decades of implementing these instruments have yielded a more—not less—fossil fuel-dependent electricity mix. This outcome suggests that classical economic theory, which emphasizes altering relative prices as the primary solution to advance an energy transition, is both underspecified and incomplete. This manuscript begins to remedy this shortcoming. The first theoretical part of the manuscript develops a novel political economic framework to explain how marketbased instruments are enveloped within the electricity system. At a high level of abstraction, this model facilitates an analysis of how political economic factors mediate a national energy transition driven by market-based policies. In the following empirical part, I carefully apply this framework using a multiple case study approach, analyzing how Korean policymakers have implemented market-based instruments in practice. This analysis utilizes within-case process tracing and is based on 58 interviews and a review of policy documents. The findings reveal that although these policies signal a commitment to shifting the economic (dis)incentives electricity producers face, the real-life construction of new pricing mechanisms is heavily conditioned by contextual factors. These factors stand to delay or distort - essentially 'unplug' the transfer of economic (dis)incentives to electricity-producing companies. Technical challenges, such as wholesale regulation and siting issues, delay the establishment of a price signal in the short term, while political resistance to electricity price hikes hampers policymakers' ability to ramp up the price signal over time, suspending the energy transition. The main conclusion is that Korean policymakers need to strike the right balance between transforming the generation segment end-users from price hikes. Many policies can help achieve this goal. But only by positioning the energy transition as an opportunity to advance - rather than frustrate - domestic energy goals, can policymakers sustain long-term political support. This challenges a mitigationcentric view of climate policy. Because Korea has been so successful at developing through and expansion of fossil fuel-based electricity, the dilemmas the energy transition poses for the country are highly relevant for other late industrializers.
Source: Lirias
Author: Barlaup, Asgeir
Institutions: Ewha Womans University, National University, National University
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7032843889
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