Government: "Landslide-Affected Solar Power Facilities Account for 0.1% of Total"

Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Industry, Conducts On-site Inspection of Mountain Solar Power Facilities Amid Heavy Rain

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "Damage occurred at 12 sites, which is 0.1% of the total 12,721 mountain solar power plants."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated on the 10th that the mountain solar power facilities damaged by the heavy rain are only a part of the whole.

Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

On the same day, Minister Sung Yoon-mo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy visited 'Dream Cheonan Energy' in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do, to inspect the operation status.

It is a mountain solar power facility with a capacity of about 1.8MW that has been in operation since 2018.

Minister Sung encouraged the power plant officials and asked related organizations to do their best to strengthen safety management.

The ministry emphasized that among the total 12,721 mountain solar power facilities as of the end of last year, only 0.1% (12 sites) had landslide damage as of the 9th.

Among the 1,174 landslides that occurred this year, the number of damages to mountain solar power facilities is 1%.

An official from the ministry said, "While monitoring the operation status of solar power facilities in real time, we plan to operate an emergency response team with the cooperation of the Korea Forest Service and local governments until the situation ends, so that rapid reporting and emergency restoration measures can be implemented."

He added, "In preparation for similar situations in the future, we plan to review and prepare additional institutional improvement measures to strengthen safety management of renewable energy facilities including mountain solar power in consultation with the Korea Forest Service and experts."

The ministry has been promoting policies such as ▲introducing a temporary use permit system for mountain solar power ▲strengthening the slope permit standard from 25 degrees to 15 degrees ▲mandatory submission of development activity completion certificates ▲mandatory intermediate restoration of mountain areas.