Gyeonggi Province has identified 1,600 candidate sites for the ‘Shared Site RE100’ project, which involves building renewable energy power plants such as solar power on public idle land. The province plans to select 600 of these sites and sequentially construct power plants there.
On the 27th, Gyeonggi Province held the ‘2024 Gyeonggi RE100 Project Briefing’ at the Suwon Convention Center for 31 cities and counties to share this information. About 100 people attended the briefing, including officials from local governments and public institutions, investors, and related organizations.
Gyeonggi Province is promoting energy self-sufficiency by collaborating with energy cooperatives in the respective areas, allowing residents to directly participate by investing funds for the construction of solar power plants and sharing development profits.
A representative example of the Shared Site RE100 is the solar power plant at the Bangsan Bus Public Garage in Siheung City, completed in July in cooperation with Siheung City. About 500 local residents invested in the energy cooperative to install a 1MW solar power facility on the roof of the bus public garage, and part of the profits will be used to support citizen scholarship programs.
Gyeonggi Province has installed solar power facilities at five shared sites, including Pocheon Sports Complex, Howon Indoor Tennis Court, and Naeson Sports Park. If facilities are installed at an additional 45 sites, the total power generation capacity is expected to reach 15MW.
Since May, Gyeonggi Province has been conducting related surveys to discover additional Shared Site RE100 target sites and has announced interim results.
To promote faster and more efficient project implementation, Gyeonggi Province will simplify the support procedures for shared site solar power plants. Previously, for installing power plants on public land, sites recommended by cities and counties underwent consulting and on-site visits before proceeding with a public offering process. However, through this new service, suitable sites will be selected first, then public offerings will be conducted in consultation with the cities and counties.
Out of 520,000 public idle sites, Gyeonggi Province selected about 210,000 sites such as grounds and parking lots suitable for installing renewable energy power facilities, and using satellite maps, excluded places with obstacles to identify 1,600 candidate sites.
Gyeonggi Province will finalize a report by the end of November, narrowing down the candidate sites to 600 through on-site surveys and other evaluations. The province will promote the Shared Site RE100 project in consultation with the cities and counties where these 600 candidate sites are located.
In particular, Gyeonggi Province is preparing to establish a renewable energy-specialized special purpose corporation (SPC) led by the public sector to ensure that renewable energy spreads in a way that fosters mutual growth between the region and residents. When the power generated at the plants is supplied to RE100 companies, part of the profits will be returned to residents through the RE100 fund operated by Gyeonggi Province, promoting a renewable energy profit-sharing system.
Kim Yeon-ji, Director of the Energy Industry Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "Implementing RE100 is essential to respond to the climate crisis and strengthen industrial competitiveness. Gyeonggi Province is cooperating with the public and private sectors in various forms to expand the share of renewable energy generation to 30% by 2030. We will continue to work with 31 cities and counties to expand Shared Site RE100."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
