Ministry of Industry: "Priority Focused Support for Solar Panels on Industrial Complex Roofs"

On the 12th, a meeting on current issues to promote solar power in industrial complexes held
Ministry of Industry: "Priority support for rooftop solar power in industrial complexes"

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy gathered opinions from solar energy-related organizations ahead of the application period for the Renewable Energy Financial Support Project. On the 12th, the ministry held a meeting on current issues to revitalize solar power in industrial complexes at Daegu EXCO with industry and public institutions, listening to opinions on business models and financial procurement methods.

Last month on the 30th, the ministry announced the Renewable Energy Financial Support (loan) Project, including the Industrial Complex Solar Power Support Project (KRW 100 billion). Applications will be accepted starting from the 17th.

Industrial complex solar power is a project that installs solar panels on roofs of factories, warehouses, parking lots, etc., in industrial complexes with high electricity consumption. Since it is installed on already developed sites, it has minimal impact on landscape and environment, and because it is installed in areas densely populated with industries that consume a lot of electricity, the burden on the power grid for transmission is low. Additionally, tenant companies participating in the project can earn rental income or electricity sales revenue.

In particular, recent plans for local government-led projects with a maximum scale of 4.0GW (Daegu 1.5GW, Gyeongbuk 2.5GW) have been announced one after another. This is more than three times the scale of 1.1GW of solar power installed in industrial complex areas nationwide so far.

Participants in the meeting presented opinions from three perspectives: promising industrial complex solar power business models, smooth financial procurement methods, and institutional requirements.

First, Korea East-West Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Hanwha Asset Management, and Hyundai Electric shared information on their ongoing business models. East-West Power is promoting a project that leases roofs of industrial complexes and logistics warehouses nationwide, starting from Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam, to install solar power, and plans to expand the business model with ‘Energy Solution Consulting’ that suggests energy efficiency measures for tenant companies in industrial complexes.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power plans to support tenant companies by promoting projects in various forms such as roof leasing, supporting voluntary renewable energy consumption (RE100) by companies, and self-generation in cooperation with Gyeongsangbuk-do. Hanwha Asset Management is playing a role in financing the Daegu Smart Industrial Complex solar power project. They stated that the business model simultaneously promotes tenant company support such as modernization of aging roofs and installation of electric vehicle chargers along with power generation projects.

Hyundai Electric explained the difficulty faced by tenant companies with insufficient creditworthiness or financial capacity in securing collateral for loans, which is an obstacle to expanding the spread of solar power.

Next, Shinhan Bank and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation proposed smooth financial procurement methods based on their experience in funding. Shinhan Bank explained the conditions that power generation businesses must meet for smooth loan financing based on their internally operated ‘Rooftop Solar Power Business Investment Guidelines.’ The Korea Technology Finance Corporation introduced its financial guarantee project for solar power generation businesses operated with government funding.

The Korea Industrial Complex Corporation explained the legal basis and progress of institutional improvements for industrial complex solar power projects, and also explained that it is promoting the ‘Smart Green Industrial Complex Development Project’ to expand renewable energy supply in 15 major industrial complexes nationwide and foster them as hubs of advanced industries through digitalization.

Choi Yeon-woo, Director of Renewable Energy Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, “This year, the government will prioritize support for companies’ voluntary renewable energy consumption implementation and rooftop solar power in industrial complexes through long-term low-interest loans for renewable energy.”