Jang Yeon-ju, Gwangju City Council Member, Holds Discussion with Environmental Movement Federation

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Jang Yeon-ju, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council, held a forum on the 27th with the Gwangju Environmental Movement Federation to explore plans for establishing a citizen energy power plant.

This forum was the first session of a series of discussions for "citizen-participatory energy transition," focusing mainly on discovering a citizen energy power plant model suitable for Gwangju and specific policy support measures from the government and city.

Dr. Kim Yoon-sung (Green Energy Strategy Institute), who presented at the forum, introduced cases of resident-participatory renewable energy projects in other regions and the subsequent government policy directions, emphasizing that it is very important for local governments to induce residents' participation through leasing commons and budget support to establish early-stage citizen power plants.

A representative from Gwangju City's Energy Industry Department, attending as a panelist, stated that to realize a decarbonized city, they plan to support the establishment of citizen power plants and provide technical support through the Green Energy Industry Promotion Agency. Meanwhile, the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it has newly established a Climate Environment Team and is preparing plans to build citizen-participatory school solar power plants.

Additionally, Jeong Eun-jin, director of the Bitgoeul Citizen Solar Power Cooperative, which recently established a cooperative and is promoting a citizen power plant through public-private governance, emphasized, "There must be a highly resolute resident preparation team that recognizes the establishment of citizen power plants as a public interest project and can work accordingly," adding, "It should be planned so that many people share the benefits and the profits can be reused as an energy transition fund."

Council member Jang Yeon-ju said, "I hope this will be the first opportunity to induce citizens' interest and participation in realizing Gwangju City's goal of becoming an energy self-sufficient city by 2045."

Meanwhile, the second forum on "citizen-participatory energy transition" is scheduled to be held on the 1st of next month at 10:30 a.m. on the 5th floor of the City Council, under the theme of "Establishment of the Gwangju Regional Energy Support Center."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.