South Korea Biomass Power Market Size, Share, Trends and Forecast by Technology, Feedstock, and Region, 2026-2034

South Korea Biomass Power Market Summary:

The South Korea biomass power market size was valued at USD 2,852.10 Million in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 4,861.93 Million by 2034, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.11% from 2026-2034.

The South Korea biomass power market is undergoing changes as the country moves forward with its renewable energy shift and long-term plans for carbon neutrality. The growing focus on waste-to-energy strategies, the increasing use of local biomass resources, and the changing policies are transforming the energy sector. Technological developments in combustion and anaerobic digestion processes, along with the growing inclusion of agricultural and forestry residues in power production, are fueling the use of biomass electricity in industrial and commercial sectors, solidifying the South Korea biomass power market share.

Key Takeaways and Insights:

• By Technology: Combustion leads the market with a share of 61.5% in 2025, driven by its established infrastructure base, high thermal efficiency, and compatibility with diverse solid biomass feedstocks across large-scale power generation facilities nationwide.
   
• By Feedstock: Solid biofuel dominates the market with a share of 66.2% in 2025, owing to abundant supply from domestic forestry residues, wood pellets, and agricultural waste streams that serve as primary fuel sources for dedicated and co-firing power plants.
   
• By Region: Seoul Capital Area accounts for the largest market share of 43.7% in 2025. This dominance is driven by concentrated industrial demand, extensive district heating networks, established power infrastructure, and proximity to major waste processing and energy consumption centers.
   
• Key Players: The South Korea biomass power market features a mix of state-owned power generation subsidiaries and private energy producers competing across combustion, gasification, and biogas segments to strengthen market positioning and advance sustainable energy capabilities.

The South Korea biomass power market is advancing as the nation pursues a diversified renewable energy portfolio aligned with its carbon neutrality roadmap. The government’s renewable portfolio standard requires large power producers to generate increasing shares of electricity from renewable sources, creating sustained demand for biomass-based generation. In 2024, six major energy companies including Hanwha Energy, GS EPS, and OCI SE signed a memorandum of understanding to build a biomass power ecosystem and improve industry sustainability, strengthening cooperation across the sector. Ongoing investments in waste valorization infrastructure and circular economy initiatives are strengthening feedstock supply chains. Biomass power generation complements intermittent renewable sources by providing baseload and dispatchable capacity. The growing emphasis on domestic biomass sourcing, combined with technological improvements in combustion efficiency and emissions control, is reinforcing the role of biomass in the national energy transition strategy.

South Korea Biomass Power Market Trends:

Shift Toward Domestic Biomass Feedstock Sourcing

The South Korea biomass power market is experiencing a notable transition from imported wood pellets to domestically sourced biomass feedstocks. Energy producers are increasingly utilizing unused forest biomass, agricultural residues, and wood chips sourced from domestic logging operations. In 2025, major independent power producer Hanwha Energy announced plans to convert one of its Gunsan plant boilers to run entirely on domestic wood pellets and wood chips instead of imported wood pellets, signaling a shift toward local feedstock sourcing. This shift is driven by evolving policy frameworks that prioritize energy security and reduce reliance on international supply chains, fostering a more self-sufficient and resilient biomass fuel ecosystem for power generation.

Expansion of Waste-to-Energy and Biogas Integration

Biogas production from organic waste streams is gaining momentum as municipalities and industrial operators adopt anaerobic digestion technologies to convert food waste, sewage sludge, and livestock manure into renewable energy. For example, in September 2024 New Jeju Bio Co. Ltd. selected Anaergia Singapore to design and build a biogas facility on Jeju Island that will process around 50,000 tons per year of organic waste into renewable energy using anaerobic digestion, underscoring private sector investment in large‑scale biogas projects. This trend supports both waste management objectives and clean power generation, aligning with circular economy principles. Dedicated biogas legislation is formalizing the institutional framework for energy recovery from organic waste, enabling broader deployment of integrated biomass energy systems.

Growing Adoption of Combined Heat and Power Systems

Combined heat and power systems utilizing biomass fuel are becoming increasingly prevalent across industrial complexes and district heating networks. These cogeneration systems enhance overall energy efficiency by simultaneously producing electricity and thermal energy from a single biomass fuel source. For example, Hanwha Energy Corp. in 2024 received approval from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy to convert a major combined heat and power plant in Gunsan from coal to biomass, retrofitting 55 % of its 222 MW capacity to use wood pellets, wood chips, and other biomass fuels for both heat and power generation. The integration of advanced combustion technologies with cogeneration capabilities is enabling operators to maximize resource utilization while reducing operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions, supporting the South Korea biomass power market growth.

Market Outlook 2026-2034:

The South Korea biomass power market is undergoing development as the country moves forward with its renewable energy shift and aims for long-term carbon neutrality. The rising focus on waste-to-energy strategies, the growing use of local biomass resources, and the dynamic regulatory environment are all impacting the energy sector. Technological improvements in combustion and anaerobic digestion processes, in combination with the rising incorporation of agricultural and forestry residues into electricity production, are fueling the use of biomass electricity in industrial and commercial sectors, solidifying the South Korea biomass power market share. The market generated a revenue of USD 2,852.10 Million in 2025 and is projected to reach a revenue of USD 4,861.93 Million by 2034, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 6.11% from 2026-2034.

South Korea Biomass Power Market Report Segmentation:

Technology Insights:

• Combustion
• Gasification
• Anaerobic Digestion

The combustion dominates with a market share of 61.5% of the total South Korea biomass power market in 2025.

Combustion technology is currently the most widely used technology in South Korea for biomass power generation, which relies on the established boiler infrastructure and mature thermal conversion technology. Large-scale power plants employ direct combustion of solid biomass fuels such as wood pellets, forestry materials, and agricultural residues to produce steam for powering electricity-generating turbines. The compatibility of this technology with the existing coal-fired power plant infrastructure has made it relatively easy to adopt on a wide scale using co-firing technology, which allows for gradual fuel switching without having to build new power plants.

The leading position of combustion technology is expected to be sustained by technological advancements in circulating fluidized bed combustion technology and ultra-supercritical boiler technology, which will improve fuel flexibility and thermal efficiency. These developments will allow power plant operators to handle a broader variety of biomass fuels while sustaining higher conversion rates and lower emission levels. Increasing efforts to convert coal-fired power plants to biomass combustion technology will further consolidate the market position of this technology segment.

Feedstock Insights:

• Solid Biofuel
• Liquid Biofuel
• Biogas

The solid biofuel leads with a share of 66.2% of the total South Korea biomass power market in 2025.

Solid biofuel includes wood pellets, wood chips, forestry residues, and agricultural biomass, which are used as primary fuels in dedicated and co-firing biomass power plants in South Korea. The ready availability of these fuels, along with their suitability for existing combustion and gasification technology infrastructure, has made solid biofuel the leading market feedstock type. The increasing domestic supply of unused forest biomass and logging residues is becoming an increasingly important factor in fulfilling fuel requirements for biomass power production.

The solid biofuel market is aided by the continued government efforts that encourage the use of locally sourced biomass materials over imported ones. The policy environment that supports the gathering and processing of forestry residues into standardized fuel products is improving supply chain stability. At the same time, advances in pelletization and densification technology are improving the energy density and handling properties of solid biofuels, which are more suited to large-scale power production.

Regional Insights:

• Seoul Capital Area
• Yeongnam (Southeastern Region)
• Honam (Southwestern Region)
• Hoseo (Central Region)
• Others

Seoul Capital Area exhibits a clear dominance with a 43.7% share of the total South Korea biomass power market in 2025.

The Seoul Capital Area, encompassing Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, serves as the primary hub for biomass power consumption and generation in South Korea. The region’s concentrated industrial base, extensive district heating infrastructure, and high energy demand create a substantial market for biomass-derived electricity and thermal energy. Proximity to major waste processing facilities and population centers supports robust feedstock availability, particularly from food waste, municipal solid waste, and sewage sludge streams suitable for biogas and combustion applications.

The region’s dominance is further reinforced by the presence of key power generation facilities and advanced waste-to-energy plants that leverage biomass technologies to serve densely populated urban and suburban areas. Government investment in modernizing district heating networks and upgrading cogeneration capabilities is strengthening biomass power infrastructure across the capital area. Additionally, the concentration of research institutions and technology developers in the region is driving innovation in biomass conversion and emissions reduction technologies.

Market Dynamics:

Growth Drivers:

Why is the South Korea Biomass Power Market Growing?

Government Renewable Energy Mandates and Policy Support

The South Korean government’s renewable portfolio standard compels large-scale electricity generators to progressively increase the proportion of renewable energy in their power output, creating sustained institutional demand for biomass-based generation. This mandatory framework assigns tradable renewable energy certificates to biomass producers, providing a critical financial mechanism that supports operational viability. However, in December 2024 the government announced reforms to phase down REC weightings for biomass, particularly for facilities using imported wood pellets, signaling a policy shift to prioritize sustainability and reduce reliance on foreign feedstocks. The regulatory structure ensures continued investment in biomass power infrastructure as utilities seek to comply with escalating renewable energy obligations, while evolving policy guidelines are refining the biomass fuel mix to prioritize sustainable and domestically sourced feedstocks over imported alternatives.

National Carbon Neutrality and Emissions Reduction Commitments

South Korea’s legally binding commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century is driving structural shifts in the national energy mix away from fossil fuel dependence. The biomass power sector benefits from the government’s broader decarbonization agenda, which positions bioenergy as a complementary renewable source alongside solar and wind. As part of this long‑term strategy, the government has finalized a 2050 carbon neutrality roadmap that aims to sharply reduce coal and LNG power generation while boosting renewable shares in the electricity mix. Biomass power generation offers dispatchable and baseload electricity capacity that helps stabilize the grid during periods of low renewable output, making it a strategic component of the energy transition. Ongoing tightening of greenhouse gas emission standards through the national emissions trading scheme further reinforces market demand for biomass alternatives.

Expanding Waste Management Infrastructure and Biogas Development

South Korea’s advanced waste management ecosystem is creating growing feedstock supply channels for biomass power generation. The mandatory separation and collection of food waste, agricultural residues, and sewage sludge provides consistent organic material inputs for anaerobic digestion and combustion facilities. Dedicated legislation institutionalizing energy recovery from organic waste has established formal pathways for biogas production and utilization. This expanding infrastructure is enabling the conversion of previously underutilized waste streams into renewable electricity and heat, while simultaneously addressing environmental concerns related to waste disposal and methane emissions. Under the Act on the Promotion of Biogas Production and Utilization (the “Biogas Act”), public and private entities that generate significant organic waste are now required to install and operate biogas production facilities, with the public sector subject to the scheme from January 2025 and the private sector from January 2026, establishing concrete institutional pathways for converting organic waste into biogas and renewable energy.

Market Restraints:

What Challenges the South Korea Biomass Power Market is Facing?

Restructuring of Renewable Energy Subsidy Frameworks

Recent government reforms are phasing down financial incentives for biomass power generation, particularly for facilities relying on imported feedstocks and coal co-firing arrangements. The reduction in renewable energy certificate weightings is compressing profit margins for existing operators and limiting the economic viability of new biomass projects, creating uncertainty about long-term investment returns.

Environmental Sustainability and Emissions Scrutiny

Growing scientific and public scrutiny over the carbon footprint of biomass power generation, particularly concerning deforestation-linked imported wood pellets and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, is intensifying regulatory pressure across the region. Rising concerns about the environmental validity of classifying forest biomass as a renewable energy source are undermining the sector's long-term policy support, eroding social acceptance, and challenging its sustainability credentials among stakeholders and policymakers.

High Feedstock Import Dependency and Supply Chain Vulnerability

South Korea’s biomass power sector has historically relied heavily on imported wood pellets sourced from international markets, exposing operators to commodity price volatility, foreign exchange fluctuations, and supply chain disruptions. The transition to domestic feedstocks requires significant investment in collection infrastructure, processing facilities, and logistics networks that are still developing.

Competitive Landscape:

The South Korea biomass power market features a competitive environment characterized by state-owned power generation subsidiaries and established private energy producers vying for market positioning across combustion, gasification, and biogas segments. Companies are focusing on transitioning existing coal-fired infrastructure to dedicated biomass operations, investing in advanced cogeneration technologies, and securing reliable domestic feedstock supply agreements. Strategic emphasis on waste-to-energy integration, circular economy partnerships, and fuel diversification is shaping competitive dynamics. Players are also pursuing operational efficiency improvements and emissions reduction technologies to align with evolving regulatory standards and strengthen their renewable energy portfolios.

Recent Developments:

• In September 2025, Korea Midland Power launched a new biomass project in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province to convert herbaceous waste from the Geumgang Estuary into renewable green fuel for power generation, aiming to enhance local sustainability and circular resource use.

South Korea Biomass Power Market Report Coverage: