Recently, our country has been experiencing increased climate volatility, with frequent showers and heavy rain throughout the country. Unpredictable weather continues, with up to 80 mm or more of rain falling on Jeju Island, while showers accompanied by gusts of wind and hail fall in the metropolitan area and Gangwon region. Such worsening weather not only causes inconveniences in the daily lives of citizens, but also causes a direct blow to energy production sites, such as drastically reducing solar radiation from solar panels or limiting the operation of wind power generators. If the Korea Meteorological Administration's precise forecast is not supported, power generation forecasts are bound to be wrong, which has a chain effect leading to instability in the power system.

Based on this awareness of the problem, a proposal for a ‘partial amendment to the Meteorological Act’ is being promoted at the National Assembly level, led by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Jong-sik. Currently, the Meteorological Act clarifies the basis for providing meteorological information in specific fields such as marine, aviation, and hydrology, but does not stipulate meteorological information linked to renewable energy, which is the core of the energy transition era. As the legal vacuum continues, it has been pointed out that the Korea Meteorological Administration has limitations in systematically providing information specialized for predicting renewable energy generation. In order to resolve this blind spot, this amendment focuses on specifying the concept of ‘renewable energy weather’ in the law and specifying the roles and responsibilities of the Korea Meteorological Administration.

If the amendment is passed and implemented in earnest, the accuracy of forecasting renewable energy generation is expected to leap to a much higher level than now. Since solar power generation is absolutely dependent on solar radiation and wind power generation is absolutely dependent on wind speed, errors in weather forecasts are directly linked to errors in power generation. If the Korea Meteorological Administration provides dedicated data to support renewable energy operations, power generation companies will be able to optimize facilities and manage power supply and demand more stably based on accurate forecasts. This goes beyond simply improving the profitability of individual business operators and will become a key driving force in accelerating the national energy transition toward carbon neutrality by securing the flexibility of the entire power system.

Energy conversion is no longer a matter of choice, but has become a necessity for survival. Renewable energy has the inherent limitation of large fluctuations in power generation depending on weather conditions, but attempts to overcome this through systematic data science are very encouraging. This bill redefines the National Weather Service's role from simply a weather observation agency to a key data provider supporting energy security. The commitment of several lawmakers who participated in the joint proposal also shows that a consensus has been formed to minimize the volatility of renewable energy and strengthen the stability of the power grid. Combining weather data and energy infrastructure will be a smart and strategic response to prepare for a carbon-neutral era.