South Korean City Gets Hanwha To Plan 1.5 GW Solar Capacity

Hanwha Asst Management of the Hanwha Group will invest KRW 3 trillion ($2.3 billion) private capital to site 1.5 GW solar power capacity on rooftop and idle ground space of several industrial complexes in South Korea’s Daegu city.

Another Hanwha Group entity Hanwha Systems will join LS Electric and Hyundai Electric to build the plant, under agreements signed by Daegu with the participation of 7 industrial complexes.

This PV capacity will supply clean energy to the participating industrial complexes that account for 15% of the city’s downtown area and turn them into eco-friendly industrial complexes.

The city administration expected to reduce its GHG emissions by 950,000 tons with this project, create employment for 28,000 people and enable local construction companies to generate sales of about KRW 1 trillion.

Daegu, on its part, will provide administrative support in terms of permitting and connection with the Korea Electric Power Corporation grid.

“I hope that the public-private partnership project in Daegu will be successfully promoted, and this business model will lead to industrial complexes across the country in the future, serving as an opportunity to spread eco-friendly renewable energy nationally,” said Hanwha Asset Management CEO Doo-hee Han.

According to local business newspaper Aju Daily, Daegu was once home to South Korea’s thriving fabric industry with huge factories in industrial complexes. All that was gone with manufacturers opting to produce in China for the lure of cheaper costs in late 1990s. Hence, the Daegu administration is happy that the old dilapidated industrial buildings will get an eco-friendly make over with asbestos roofs having carcinogenic properties to human health removed in the process of laying rooftop PV panels.