How much renewable electricity are Seoul’s newly approved building designs expected to generate, and what share of the city’s consumption would that cover?

The designs are projected to produce 3,811 gigawatt-hours annually after construction is complete, equivalent to roughly 8 percent of Seoul’s total electricity consumption. The article says this output is 1.5 times the annual capacity of the Seoul Thermal Power Plant.

Why is Seoul requiring renewable energy systems to be built into new buildings?

Seoul has limited land for conventional wind and solar farms and relies heavily on electricity drawn from outside the region. City planners are therefore requiring clean-energy infrastructure in new structures as part of an effort to make dense urban areas produce more of their own power.

What renewable energy technologies and building standards are part of Seoul’s approach?

The approach centers on building-integrated photovoltaics, which incorporate solar panels into exterior walls and facades, and subterranean geothermal heat pumps. Standards introduced in January 2025 favor energy-generating BIPV over decorative glass curtain walls and set stricter renewable thermal energy targets for commercial buildings larger than 30,000 square meters.

Newly designed buildings to supply 8% of electricity in Seoul

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Summary

Newly approved building designs across Seoul are projected to generate 3,811 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually once construction is complete, equal to roughly 8 percent of the city’s electricity consumption. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the plans reviewed from 2022 to 2026 incorporate solar facades and geothermal heating as the city seeks to increase local clean-energy production. Building-integrated photovoltaics and geothermal systems are central to the approach.

Key Facts

The projected output is 1.5 times the Seoul Thermal Power Plant’s annual capacity and equals 85 percent of the renewable energy capacity installed in Seoul over the previous 17 years combined.
Solar installations are projected to generate 1,916 gigawatt-hours annually, while geothermal systems are expected to contribute 788 gigawatt-hours.
Revised green building standards introduced in January 2025 discourage decorative glass curtain-wall facades in favor of building-integrated photovoltaics.
The standards also impose stricter renewable thermal energy targets on commercial buildings exceeding 30,000 square meters.
Myung No-joon, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Housing Bureau, said requiring geothermal and building-integrated photovoltaic systems at the initial design phase would improve building efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Published Oct 30, 2026 11:29 am KST

Solar panels are installed on the rooftop of the Hwigyeong Brownstone apartment complex in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, Sept. 22. Yonhap

Newly approved buildings across the capital of Korea are expected to generate 3,811 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually, driven by city mandates requiring solar facades and geothermal heating in building designs.

According to data released Friday by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the projected clean energy output — stemming from architectural plans reviewed between 2022 and 2026 — will equal roughly 8 percent of the city’s total electricity consumption once construction is complete.

The output from these upcoming structures is 1.5 times the annual capacity of the Seoul Thermal Power Plant, the city’s historic energy anchor, and represents 85 percent of all renewable energy capacity installed in the capital over the previous 17 years combined.

The push comes as Korea works to expand its clean energy mix, where renewable sources currently account for around 9 to 11 percent of national power generation — leaving urban centers like Seoul, which relies heavily on power drawn from outside regions, under pressure to boost local self-sufficiency.

The shift reflects a broader policy effort to convert dense, land-scarce urban centers into active power producers. Unable to deploy traditional wind or solar farms across limited land, municipal planners are requiring clean energy infrastructure to be built directly into new structures.

Central to the initiative is Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) — solar generation panels built into exterior walls and facades — alongside subterranean geothermal heat pumps. Under revised green building standards introduced in January 2025, city officials began discouraging decorative glass curtain-wall facades in favor of energy-generating BIPV technology, while imposing stricter renewable thermal energy targets for commercial buildings exceeding 30,000 square meters.

Of the projected annual output from the newly reviewed designs, solar installations account for 1,916 gigawatt-hours and geothermal systems contribute 788 gigawatt-hours, with the remainder coming from secondary renewable systems.

"The projected renewable energy generation from building designs approved over the past five years forms a critical foundation for the city’s energy transition," said Myung No-joon, head of the Housing Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government. "By mandating geothermal and BIPV systems at the initial design phase, we are boosting building efficiency and driving greenhouse gas reductions across the capital."

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

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