• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.164-171
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• 2015

Although coal-fired power generation has played a role as base load unit, it has incurred various social costs in the process of generating and providing electricity. It is necessary to extend the proportion of low-carbon power generations, and reduce the ratio of coal-fired power generation to cope with global climate changes. This study, therefore, attempts to estimate the public's willingness-to-pay (WTP) for substitution of supplied electricity from hydro-electricity generation, a representative renewable energy, for coal-fired power generation. To this end, we apply the contingent valuation (CV) method, widely used technique when valuing non-market goods, to elicit the public's WTP. In addition, a spike model is employed to consider zero WTPs. After the empirical analysis with 1,000 households CV survey data, the results show that mean household's WTP for replacing supplied electricity from hydro-electricity generation with coal-fired power generation is estimated to be about 54 KRW per kWh. The results of this study are expected to contribute to determining energy-mix and provide benefit information of hydro-electricity generation.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.367-391
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• 2013

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, the external costs of generating electricity from nuclear power plants such as additional safety compliance costs and possible accident risk action costs have gained increasing attention from the public, policy-makers and politicians. Consequently, estimates of the external costs of nuclear power are very deliberate issue that is at the center of the controversy in Korea. In this paper, we try to calculate the external costs associated with the safety of the nuclear power plants, particularly focusing on additional safety compliance costs and possible accident risk action costs. To estimate the possible accident risk action costs, we adopt the damages expectation approach that is very similar way from the external cost calculation of Japanese government after the Fukushima accident. In addition, to estimate additional safety compliance costs, we apply the levelized cost of generation method. Furthermore, we perform the sensitivity analysis to examine how much these social costs increase the electricity price rate. Estimation results of the additional security measure cost is 0.53Won/kWh ~ 0.80Won/kWh depending on the capacity factor, giving little change on the nuclear power generation cost. The estimates of possible accident risk action costs could be in the wide range depending on the different damages of the nuclear power accident, probability of the severe nuclear power accident and the capacity factor. The preliminary results show that it is 0.0025Won/kWh ~ 26.4188Won/kWh. After including those two external costs on the generation cost of a nuclear power plant, increasing rate of electricity price is 0.001%~10.0563% under the capacity factor from 70% to 90%. This paper tries to examine the external costs of nuclear power plants, so as to include it into the generation cost and the electricity price. This paper suggests one of the methodologies that we might internalize the nuclear power generations' external cost, including it into the internal generation cost.