ED Culprits behind landslides

Korea needs to reconsider reckless construction of solar power plants

A heated debate is going on over recent landslides caused by the long rainy season. According to the Korea Forest Service, 1,100 large and small landslides occurred during this monsoon season. That included 12 sites where solar photovoltaic facilities had been installed.

Opposition parties, including the United Future Party, called for a National Assembly investigations into the matter. They claim that the landslides were the result of solar power plants mushrooming in the mountains as part of the Moon Jae-in administration's energy policy to phase out nuclear power stations. However, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy pushed back against the criticism, noting that the 12 accounted for only 0.1 percent of the 12,721 solar power facilities nationwide.

Solar power firms make profits based on the total number of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) they possess and the Supply Marginal Price (SMP). However, the average REC price has fallen recently to the mid-40,000 won ($33) range, marking a drop of nearly 40 percent from 75,000 won in January last year. The SMP has also declined from 84 won per kWh this past January to 70 won in May, and 60 won currently. These sharply pulled down the profitability of solar farm operators, which had started the new business at the behest of the government but found it reduced to being a mere nuisance.

The construction cost of solar stations also plunged from 6.5 billion won per megawatt in 2006 to 1.2 billion won recently. The sharp fall was not due to technological progress but a dumping offensives by Chinese suppliers. Korean equipment makers are no match for their Chinese competitors armed with competitive prices. As a result, made-in-China parts and components are dominating domestic solar power plants. One has to ask who benefits from Korea building solar power stations.

Because of the rapidly aggravating profitability, Korean solar power firms' existence is now at risk. Moreover, critics are pointing to solar farms as the main culprits behind the landslides. The more the nation builds solar stations, the fatter the pockets of Chinese firms grow. All this makes one wonder once again: Why does the Moon administration adhere to its unreasonable energy policy so excessively?