Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok Urges Suspension of Naju SRF Combined Heat and Power Plant Operation

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, has called for the suspension of operations at the Naju SRF combined heat and power plant.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 27th, Governor Kim issued a statement regarding the unilateral start of operations at the Naju SRF combined heat and power plant by the Korea District Heating Corporation, ignoring residents' opinions, citing the court's first-instance ruling in an administrative lawsuit.

Governor Kim stated, “Conflicts between various institutions and residents are sharply divided, making it difficult to resolve the issue solely through the court's ruling.”

Currently, the Naju SRF issue is in a situation where the city of Naju has filed an appeal with the Gwangju High Court against the first-instance administrative lawsuit ruling last month that canceled the refusal of the business commencement report acceptance.

The province views the court's first-instance ruling as limited to the ‘refusal of report acceptance’ and expects that there will be ample room to contest various issues that were not previously disputed in subsequent trials.

Additionally, Naju citizens plan to join the lawsuit as ‘third-party auxiliary participants’ to strengthen their position.

Since the early days of the current administration, the use of SRF in the metropolitan area and major cities has been restricted. Last year, the principle of responsible waste management by the generating city/province was established, and from 2030, direct landfill of household waste will be prohibited, requiring cities and provinces to develop their own household waste management plans.

Considering that it takes at least 10 years to install incineration facilities, Gwangju City must begin preparations now.

Regarding the forced operation, the Korea District Heating Corporation claims that the difficulties stem from enormous deficits and stock price declines due to the plant's non-operation, leading to shareholder dissatisfaction and pressure for compensation claims at a level difficult to endure as a listed company. However, locally, there is strong criticism that this action pursues profit alone, neglecting its role as a public enterprise.

Governor Kim said, “The unilateral operation by the Korea District Heating Corporation has caused significant conflicts between institutions and concerns within civil society,” adding, “Since governance activities to resolve the issue have ended, I hope the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will promptly establish a new consultative body where institutions can communicate and negotiate.”

Meanwhile, since January 2019, the public-private cooperative governance committee, consisting of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Jeonnam Province, Naju City, Korea District Heating Corporation, and the Naju Citizens' Committee Against Waste Fuel Use, has been working to resolve the Naju SRF issue. However, due to unresolved disagreements between institutions over loss compensation, the committee ended its activities on November 30 of last year.

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