Seoul City-Korea Water Resources Corporation, Agreement on Development and Promotion of Han River Small Hydropower Generation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea Water Resources Corporation signed a business agreement on the 23rd at the Seosomun Annex of City Hall to jointly develop and expand the distribution of renewable energy in the water resources sector, including Han River small hydropower generation and the utilization of water thermal energy.

At the signing ceremony, Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of the Climate and Environment Headquarters of Seoul, and Lee Jun-geun, Executive Director of the Green Infrastructure Division of Korea Water Resources Corporation, agreed on the development of eco-friendly small hydropower generation using the Jamsil submerged weir, active discovery and introduction of water thermal energy utilizing the metropolitan water supply system, and technology exchange related to renewable energy.

'Small hydropower generation' refers to hydropower generation with a relatively small scale of 10 megawatts (MW) or less, and 'water thermal energy' means utilizing the heat or cold of water for building heating and cooling.

Seoul completed a feasibility study last year to develop small hydropower generation using the surplus water quantity of the Jamsil submerged weir on the Han River, and according to this business agreement, plans to form a construction and working-level consultative body in October to concretize the project.

Meanwhile, Seoul currently operates small hydropower facilities with a total capacity of 456 kilowatts (kW) installed at seven locations in the city. The feasibility study conducted last year proposed a scenario to build a 2.5 MW small hydropower generation facility at the Jamsil submerged weir.

Additionally, the 'water thermal energy heating and cooling system using metropolitan water supply pipes,' which was applied to the Jamsil Lotte World Tower in 2014 and accounted for 10% of the total heating and cooling energy, is planned to be prioritized for application in Seoul's redevelopment, reconstruction, and large-scale development projects.

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