Administrative Notice on Amendment of Guidelines for Renewable Energy Cluster Complex
Possible to Postpone Deregistration of Power Projects Without Acquisition for 2 Years
To prevent the cancellation of designation due to failure to obtain power generation business permits on time amid local opposition despite being designated as an offshore wind power integration complex, the government is set to improve the system.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 12th that it will publicly notify a partial amendment to the "Guidelines on the Creation and Support of New and Renewable Energy Integration Complexes" from the 13th until January 3, 2024.
These guidelines, implemented since November 2020, allow local governments to lead site discovery and develop new and renewable energy (over 40MW) complexes by securing acceptability and environmental suitability through public-private councils, granting an additional Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) weighting of up to 0.1. The Ministry explained, "After operating the integration complex system for three years, the offshore wind power industry pointed out that the mandatory period to obtain power generation business permits is excessively short, and that the pre-site consultation required before applying for designation can be conducted concurrently with the evaluation and review of the integration complex designation, as requested by local governments. The new guidelines will reflect these points."
According to the current guidelines, if a power generation business permit is not obtained within two years from the date of designation as an integration complex, the designation is canceled. However, in the case of large-scale offshore wind power integration complexes, the licensing process is lengthy, and conflicts of interest among residents have caused delays in obtaining power generation business permits. Through this amendment, the Ministry will allow complexes that fail to obtain permits to postpone the cancellation of designation for up to two years after evaluation and review.
Additionally, the current guidelines require consulting the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Ministry of National Defense to assess whether the offshore wind power project site is suitable in terms of complex layout, fisheries, environment, and military operations. The amendment includes provisions to relax the pre-completion condition by allowing the submission of pre-site consultation results after the application for new integration complex designation.
Jung Kyung-rok, Director of Renewable Energy Policy, stated, "The Ministry plans to collect various opinions during the administrative notification period and improve the system to activate the application and designation of integration complexes."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
