SK E&S Selected as Preferred Negotiation Partner for Largest Private Sector Floating Solar Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] SK Group's eco-friendly energy company SK E&S announced on the 16th that it has been selected as the preferred negotiator for the ‘200MW Floating Solar Power Project’ in the ‘Industrial Investment-type Power Generation Project’ competition led by the Saemangeum Development Agency.

This corresponds to 200MW out of the total 2.4GW scale solar power project being promoted in Saemangeum, and if SK E&S wins this project, it will become the largest private floating solar power generation company.

Having already entered the largest single-scale offshore wind power project in Jeonnam (Shinan) this year, SK E&S’s chances of winning this floating solar project have also increased, marking a stepping stone to becoming a future energy company.

The Saemangeum Development Agency decided early last year to promote the ‘Industrial Investment-type Power Generation Project,’ which provides incentives to companies investing in Saemangeum, and after holding briefings for project operators, conducted a concept competition for the floating solar power project in January this year.

Among these, concepts from SK E&S, Gimje City, and a total of four project operators were adopted, and SK E&S was selected as the preferred negotiator in the main bidding held on the 15th to select the first project operator.

On that day, SK E&S revealed plans to contribute to making Saemangeum a hub of future industries and innovative companies, similar to Almere, a representative reclaimed city in the Netherlands.

They plan to establish a startup cluster that creates quality jobs aimed at revitalizing the local economy and, in the long term, set up data centers utilizing electricity produced in Saemangeum to attract domestic and international IT companies.

Currently, SK E&S operates renewable energy power facilities in Korea with a capacity of 110MW: 47MW from solar power plants across 36 regions nationwide and 63MW from wind power plants in Shinan County, Jeonnam.

In the future, SK E&S plans to operate facilities with a combined capacity of at least 2GW of solar and wind power domestically. This corresponds to about 10% of the current total renewable energy capacity in Korea, and the company’s strategy is to expand renewable energy projects both domestically and overseas to a total of 10GW, with 5GW each by 2030.

For solar power, they are promoting 750MW in salt-damaged reclaimed lands in Seosan and Dangjin, Chungnam, and Wando, Jeonnam. Although these are reclaimed lands, the high salinity makes farming impossible or reduces crop productivity, so the plan is to utilize these lands to minimize environmental damage and revitalize the local economy. Additionally, large-scale solar power projects applying a resident participation-based regional win-win model are planned on abandoned salt farm sites in Jeonnam.

For wind power, SK E&S is promoting 96MW of offshore wind power in Shinan, Jeonnam, the largest single-scale project in Korea, and is also reviewing an additional large-scale offshore wind power project of 800MW.

Moreover, SK E&S is actively engaging not only in renewable energy but also in new energy businesses.

In line with the global energy trend emphasizing efficiency rather than expanding power production, the company is expanding investments in the energy solutions sector.

Domestically, SK E&S operates about 354MWh of ESS (Energy Storage System) facilities across 17 sites nationwide, including Doosan Heavy Industries Changwon Plant and SK Innovation Ulsan Plant, and operates a 345MWh ESS-based Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in California, USA, considered the world’s largest ESS market.

In addition, in July this year, SK E&S established a joint venture with Sunrun, the number one company in solar ESS installation in the US, to promote a home energy solutions business.

SK E&S’s expansion of its eco-friendly energy portfolio aligns with SK Group’s emphasis on creating social value. As Korea’s largest energy group, SK Group’s leadership in discovering clean future energy sources can help solve environmental problems and contribute to building a sustainable society.

Yoo Jung-joon, President of SK E&S, said, “Now, companies cannot guarantee survival without proactively responding to climate change and carbon emissions,” adding, “Based on this project, we will accelerate domestic and overseas renewable energy projects to lead the supply of clean energy and contribute to revitalizing the local economy.”

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