Biomass-based power trade jumps 51 pct in 2019

SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea saw its trading volume of electricity generated from biomass soar nearly 51 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, data showed Monday.

The amount came to 4,199 gigawatt-hours (GWh) last year, up 50.7 percent from the previous year, according to the data by state-run utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).

It was the first time since 2008 for the figure to surpass transactions of electricity generated from solar energy.

Last year, the country's trading volume of solar power reached 3,849 GWh, with that of renewable energy-based electricity totaling 26,606 GWh.

Biomass is organic material that comes from plants and animals, and is used for production of electricity or heat. A renewable source of energy, it includes wood chips and wood pellets.

The increase in the volume of biomass-based electricity comes amid South Korea's efforts to jack up the ratio of renewable energy -- sunlight, wind, rain, tides or geothermal heat -- in power generation to help tackle global warming.

President Moon Jae-in has vowed to boost the supply of power from clean and renewable energy sources while weaning the country off nuclear and coal-fired plants.

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