Establishment of 'Gangwon Suyeol Energy Convergence Cluster'... Institution Cooperation MOU Signed

Reference photo [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment, Gangwon Province, Chuncheon City, and Korea Water Resources Corporation signed a "Business Agreement for the Creation and Activation of a Water Thermal Energy Convergence Cluster" at Gangwon Provincial Office on the afternoon of the 17th.

This business agreement was prepared to foster the "Gangwon Water Thermal Energy Convergence Cluster" as a representative industry of the Green New Deal. The Gangwon Water Thermal Energy Convergence Cluster is planned to be established in the Dong-myeon area of Chuncheon City, with completion targeted for 2027.

To create the Gangwon Water Thermal Energy Convergence Cluster, the parties agreed to mutually cooperate on establishing a water thermal energy supply system, creating a water thermal energy complex, and forming a carbon-neutral cluster linked with water-energy. They also decided to form a working-level consultative body among related organizations for close discussions.

This project will supply water thermal energy by utilizing 240,000 tons per day of deep water from Soyanggang Dam, where the annual water temperature ranges from 6 to 13℃. The facility scale is 16,500 refrigeration tons (RT), which is more than five times the size of the Lotte World Tower, the largest in Korea.

Water thermal energy is attracting attention as an optimized energy source applicable to energy-intensive facilities such as data centers that consume a lot of electricity. It is known to be used overseas in places like Alibaba's data centers in China.

The Gangwon Water Thermal Energy Convergence Cluster will establish a data center complex, smart agriculture complex, smart residential complex, and water-energy specialized enterprise complex based on the demand for water thermal energy. It was also recognized for its high business feasibility in the recently completed preliminary feasibility study.

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae stated, "The agreement signed today will become a new milestone for water-energy use based on water thermal energy," and added, "We will strive to ensure that the water thermal energy cluster grows into a representative cluster of the Republic of Korea aiming for carbon neutrality."

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