Shinan-gun Officially Launches 'Resident Lifetime Pension' Policy Utilizing Solar and Wind Energy

Opening Ceremony of the Renewable Energy Cooperative Office

Shinan County held the 'Anjwa-myeon New Renewable Energy Civil-Military Cooperative Office Opening Ceremony' on the 15th. / ⓒ Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do held the ‘Anjwa-myeon New and Renewable Energy Civil-Military Cooperative Office Opening Ceremony’ on the 15th, marking the official start.

According to Shinan-gun on the 16th, under the nation’s first ‘Ordinance on Sharing Development Benefits of New and Renewable Energy (enacted October 5, 2018)’, large-scale solar power projects with SPC equity capital of 30% or more, or at least 4% of project costs established by resident cooperatives, began their first commercial operation last December with Jarado at 24MW and Anjwado at 96MW.

The event was attended by Park Woo-ryang, Shinan-gun governor, Kim Hyuk-seong, chairman of Shinan County Council, Jeong Gwang-ho, member of Jeollanam-do Provincial Assembly, members of Shinan County Council, directors of Jarado and Anjwado cooperatives, and local residents, where progress reports and ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held.

The resident cooperatives plan to distribute the 1004 Islands Shinan gift certificates to 2,945 people in Anjwado and 276 people in Jarado in April, with an annual maximum of approximately 1.6 million KRW to 400,000 KRW per person.

Kim Jeong-dae, chairman of the Anjwado cooperative, said, “We are grateful to Governor Park Woo-ryang and Shinan County council members for promoting the lifelong pension policy utilizing local resources such as sunlight and wind,” adding, “We plan to promote various projects such as increasing residents’ income and creating jobs through the cooperative.”

Governor Park Woo-ryang stated, “Although there were many difficulties in promoting the policy of sharing development benefits of new and renewable energy, the lifelong pension was realized thanks to the trust in the policies promoted by the county and the cooperation of the county council and residents,” and added, “We will continue to ensure that the profits of solar power project operators in Jido, Saok, Imjado, Jeungdo, Bigeumdo, and Sinui-do are shared with residents rather than monopolized.”

He also added, “With the promotion of 8.2GW offshore wind power, we will ensure that all residents can share an annual profit of 6 million KRW per person.”

Meanwhile, anyone residing on the respective islands can join the cooperative. For those who moved in after the ordinance was enacted, those under 30 years old can join immediately, those under 40 after one year of residence, those under 50 after two years, and those over 50 after three years of residence.

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