S Korea's new renewables goal needs USD 101bn in investments

South Korea's plan to triple its renewable energy share by 2030 requires investments of around KRW 110 trillion (USD 101.7bn/EUR 85.8bn), Yonhap news agency reported today.

The government's plan is to get more solar and wind farms nationwide and add total of 48.7 GW of new green power capacity. This is all in line with the new goal to increase the share of renewable energy from the less than 7% currently to 20%, said Yonhap, citing the detailed plans from Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

According to energy minister Paik Un-gyu, the country will shift its renewables focus from biomass to solar and wind power, so these two sources would account for over 95% of new capacities.

Half of the estimated KRW 110 trillion in investments are seen to come from state energy firms, KRW 41 trillion from the private sector and KRW 18 trillion from the government in the form of loans to small power producers and subsidies for solar.

South Korea will adopt feed-in tariffs (FiTs) and priority dispatch for renewable energy sources to encourage investments in the sector, the minister has added. Among the other measures planned, the government will push for changes in policy to allow the installation of solar panels on reclaimed land and on-farm reservoirs, as well as ease regulations to utilise idle state land.

(KRW 1,000 = USD 0.92/EUR 0.78)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!