The Refinishing Touch Blog

This week we take a look at the ambitious plans set out by the South Korean government to promote sustainability through the spread of renewable energy. While the government has been trying to do this through various plans, such as the one million “green homes” it has built, renewable energy is still rare in South Korea, with only 2.49 percent of energy coming from renewable sources. Wind, solar and hydrogen fuel cells account for even less, standing at only 0.1 percent.

This is all set to change if the plans of South Korea’s Presidential Committee on Green Growth are successful. First up is the plan to build a 40 MW wind power complex by 2014, enough to deliver electricity to 13,000 homes. There are also plans to create another wind farm on the ocean along the West Coast. This one would supply 100 MW and would also be completed by 2014, costing the government 400 billion won ($322.8 billion).

On the solar power front, the government hopes to expand the solar energy market through the application of a Renewable Portfolio Standard that will require energy providers to ensure that a certain amount of the supplied power come from renewable sources. By 2012 these standards will become mandatory, but the government is encouraging providers to adopt them earlier by offering them benefits. It is estimated that such a program could expand the solar energy market to supply enough power for 33,000 households.

Finally, to increase the use of hydrogen fuel cells, the government has said it will subsidize 30 to 80 percent of their installation costs in households to encourage early adopters, starting at 80 percent until 2012 and then dropping incrementally to 30 percent by 2016.

Initiatives like this one are paramount to creating a more sustainable world, which is by no means an easy task. We applaud South Korea for their initiatives and hope that their endeavors prove to be successful in making their country more sustainable than ever. As they say in Korea: “행운을” (good luck)!