Yeonggwang County Council "Absolutely Opposes 'Sinan Offshore Wind Power Transmission Line' Passing Through Yeonggwang County"

Protest Rally at Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy... Opposition to Designation of Integrated Complex

The Special Committee on Offshore Wind Power Transmission Lines of the Yeonggwang County Council in Jeollanam-do (hereinafter referred to as the 'Special Committee') announced on the 29th of last month at a rally in front of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) at the Sejong Government Complex, organized by the Yeonggwang County Joint Response Committee, with about 140 participants including residents of the Yeonggwang area, that they "strongly oppose the passage of the Sinan offshore wind power transmission line through Yeonggwang County."

According to the Yeonggwang County Council on the 1st, the rally was held to convey the determination of the residents of Yeonggwang County to block the project in front of MOTIE, the final decision-maker for the designation of the Sinan offshore wind power integrated complex.

The Yeonggwang County Council officially conveyed the position of Yeonggwang residents through meetings and rallies with Park Chang-hwan, former Jeollanam-do Deputy Governor for Political Affairs, in January and February. In particular, during the meeting on January 4, they expressed, "Since the residents along the transmission line route are excluded and acceptance has not been secured, please postpone the application for designation." At that time, Deputy Governor Park sympathized with Yeonggwang County's position and promised, "In the future, the project will not proceed through secretive administration."

However, Jeollanam-do applied to MOTIE on April 29 for the designation of the Sinan offshore wind power integrated complex without reflecting the will of Yeonggwang residents, which led to strong opposition from the residents.

On the 29th of last month, the Yeonggwang County Council in Jeollanam-do held a rally in front of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the Sejong Government Complex to oppose the offshore wind power transmission line.
[Photo by Yeonggwang County Council]

The rally proceeded with greetings from Special Committee members Im Young-min and Jeong Seon-woo, individual speeches by the co-chairpersons (Jeong Myeong-su, President of the United Prosperity Association; Choi Young-joo, Head of the National Village Leaders Association Yeonggwang Branch; Hwang Kyung-soon, President of the Women's Farmers Association; and Jang Young-jin, Chairperson of the Yeonggwang County Council Special Committee), speeches by participating residents, and the reading of a statement.

At the rally, the Joint Response Committee delivered a 'Statement Opposing the Designation of the Sinan Offshore Wind Power Integrated Complex' and a 'Petition Against the Passage of the Sinan Offshore Wind Power Transmission Line through Yeonggwang County' to MOTIE.

In the statement, they strongly condemned, saying, "Jeollanam-do plans to install about half (33 km) of the 65 km Sinan offshore wind power transmission line, which will connect to the Sinjangseong Substation, in Yeonggwang County," and added, "Contrary to Jeollanam-do's plan to expand distributed energy and supply renewable energy within the region, most of the power is expected to be used by large semiconductor complexes located in the Seoul metropolitan area."

They requested MOTIE to reject the application for designation of the Sinan offshore wind power integrated complex, which abandoned securing acceptance from residents along the transmission line route, an essential requirement for the implementation plan of the integrated complex. They repeatedly demanded an apology from Jeollanam-do for excluding residents along the transmission line from the planning process of the integrated complex implementation plan and called for withdrawal of the application and securing residents' acceptance.

They also strongly criticized the government's inadequate policies on measures to prevent the southern installation of transmission lines in response to increasing power demand, cost reduction of transmission, and plans and support policies for relocating power generation facilities of Seoul metropolitan area companies to the development regions.

The Yeonggwang County Council and others also delivered a petition with 7,934 signatures from Yeonggwang residents opposing the passage of the offshore wind power transmission line through Yeonggwang County to MOTIE. The petition was conducted over about 100 days from February 19 to May 31 targeting Yeonggwang residents.

Jang Young-jin, a Yeonggwang County Council member, said, "The infrastructure at the Sejong Government Complex is well equipped with underground cabling, so why can't the transmission lines passing through five cities and counties in Jeollanam-do, including Yeonggwang County, be undergrounded?" He added, "The 'Sinan Offshore Wind Power Integrated Complex Project,' which clearly infringes on residents' health and rights due to high-voltage lines, should be thoroughly reconsidered."