Gwangju City Forms 'Honam Ultra-Wide Area Energy Economy Community' Together with Jeonnam and Jeonbuk

Enhancing Export Competitiveness through RE100... Gwangju 2045 Carbon Neutral Energy Self-Reliance Cooperation

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "Energy Economic Community Will Be the Core Driving Force for Innovation Growth in Honam Region"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is joining hands with Jeonnam Province and Jeonbuk Province to form the ‘Honam Super Metropolitan Energy Economy Community’ centered on renewable energy.

On the 24th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended the ‘Honam Super Metropolitan Energy Economy Community Service Commencement Report Meeting’ held at the National Assembly Democratic Party floor leader’s meeting room.

At the meeting, Mayor Lee, along with Lee Nak-yeon, Democratic Party leader, Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader, Song Gap-seok, Gwangju City Party Chairman, Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, and Woo Beom-gi, Deputy Governor for Political Affairs of Jeonbuk Province, agreed on uniting Honam through renewable energy such as solar and wind power and creating future growth engines.

This service project involves the Democracy Research Institute and the three city/provincial parties and metropolitan local governments of Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk. The bidding announcement started last month, and it is scheduled to be completed by May to develop a Honam super metropolitan development strategy through the Green New Deal.

The Honam region has abundant sunlight, making it suitable for solar power generation, and the west coast has shallow waters and strong northwest winds, providing optimal conditions for wind power generation.

Based on these natural environments, Jeonnam plans to build an 8.2GW offshore wind farm in Sinan, and Jeonbuk is promoting the construction of a 2.8GW floating solar power facility in Saemangeum.

Additionally, Gwangju broke ground on a 12.3MW hydrogen fuel cell power plant site at the Seo-gu No. 1 sewage treatment plant on the 10th, and plans to start construction of a hub-type medium-scale hydrogen production base in the Pyeong-dong industrial complex in September. Citizens, including cooperatives, will lead the installation of citizen solar power plants, significantly expanding renewable energy.

In particular, Gwangju declared itself the first city in Korea to achieve a ‘2045 Carbon Neutral Energy Self-Reliant City’ and is promoting a Green New Deal linked with artificial intelligence, leveraging its strength as an AI-centered city.

The transition to renewable energy is impossible without artificial intelligence. Predicting and managing the amount of power generated from uncontrollable sources such as solar and wind requires processing vast amounts of data in real time quickly.

Accordingly, if Gwangju’s artificial intelligence and Jeonnam and Jeonbuk’s solar and wind power are connected to a renewable energy power grid, it is expected that regional companies will improve export competitiveness by achieving 100% renewable energy (RE100), Gwangju will achieve carbon-neutral energy self-reliance by 2045, Korea’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal will be realized, and convergence new industries will be fostered, allowing Honam to secure future growth engines.

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, said, “If Gwangju’s artificial intelligence, Sinan’s wind power, and Saemangeum’s solar power form a single belt, it will become another core driving force leading innovative growth in the Honam region,” adding, “Honam’s realization of the ‘Energy Economy Community’ will be an opportunity to leap into a safe, clean, and livable global green community along with a successful energy transition in the post-COVID-19 era.”

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