By Kim Se-jeong
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced an ambitious plan Tuesday to boost solar energy in the city’s energy mix, aiming to power one out of three households with solar panels installed on their buildings by 2022.
In a press conference, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said, “This will mean the proportion of solar energy will increase 10 times compared to now.”
Currently, solar energy makes up only 0.3 percent of electricity produced in the city.
Likewise, renewable energy accounts for only 2 percent at the moment, but the mayor said that figure will reach 13.8 percent.
Park detailed a couple of measures for reaching that goal.
The most outstanding one is to increase solar panels for residential buildings and apartments.
New public apartments and residential buildings will be required to install solar panels on surfaces such as rooftops and each household’s veranda. For existing buildings, the city plans to offer incentives for installing solar panels.
“We’re projecting 1 million households will use solar power generated from their apartments by 2022,” the mayor said.
The city will also make use of public buildings and land so it can install as many solar panels as possible. The city said this will increase the generating capacity by 243 additional megawatts of electricity.
It will also remake Gwanghwamun Square as a solar street and designate the World Cup Park as a solar park to raise public awareness of solar energy.
The city government is expected to stimulate the solar energy industry by supporting individual consumers’ investment in relevant companies and giving financial support to new solar energy companies.
Tuesday’s announcement comes in the face of worsening global warming and severe air pollution here.
“This will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the air cleaner,” the mayor said.
The announcement reflects Seoul’s standing in environmental policy.
The new initiative is part of its “One less nuclear power plant” campaign, geared toward reducing energy consumption so it will rely less on nuclear energy which is Seoul’s main energy supply.
The campaign has been so successful that it won the city an award for its green policies and is drawing many policymakers within Korea and abroad to learn about it.