Seoul City Doubles Support for 'Eco-Friendly Boilers' This Year... Priority Assistance for Vulnerable Groups

Support for a total of 115,000 units, doubling last year's distribution scale... Applications accepted through autonomous districts from the 10th
This year's support: 100,000 KRW, 600,000 KRW for low-income groups... Improved support methods and expanded aid for vulnerable groups

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will start providing subsidies for the replacement of eco-friendly boilers for home use from the 10th. The scale of this supply has doubled compared to last year, reaching 115,000 units, with a budget of 12 billion KRW.

Seoul has set the subsidy amount at 100,000 KRW per unit this year. Although the subsidy amount per unit has decreased, the supply volume has been doubled to promote the wider distribution of eco-friendly boilers, which are effective in reducing greenhouse gases and fine dust. Eco-friendly boilers emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) at about one-eighth the level of conventional boilers and have 12% higher thermal efficiency, thus reducing fine dust and greenhouse gases. A household spending 1 million KRW annually on city gas can save approximately 130,000 KRW.

The subsidy amount for low-income households remains at 600,000 KRW, the same as last year. Previously, low-income tenants had difficulty receiving subsidies for eco-friendly boilers even if they applied, but from this year, if the homeowner submits a lease contract extension consent form, low-income tenants will also receive 600,000 KRW. Additionally, linked with the Seoul Energy Welfare Citizen Fund support project, a program will be promoted to install boilers without any personal expense for particularly vulnerable low-income households.

Seoul prioritizes support for low-income households replacing boilers older than 10 years, private childcare centers, and private senior centers, among other marginalized groups. Boilers older than 10 years will be supported in order from the oldest. Public facilities and installations in newly constructed buildings are excluded from support. The priority order is: ▲ vulnerable groups replacing boilers older than 10 years ▲ private social welfare facilities such as private childcare centers and private senior centers replacing boilers older than 10 years ▲ replacement of boilers older than 10 years.

Boiler purchasers must contract with suppliers (sales agencies, etc.) for the amount after deducting the subsidy, and suppliers must install the boilers after receiving subsidy approval from the local district office. It is also possible for purchasers to apply for the subsidy after installing the boiler.

The eco-friendly boilers eligible for subsidies are those certified by the Minister of Environment, currently including 468 models from 5 companies (Kyungdong Navien 106 models, Kiturami 121 models, Daesung Celtic Enersys 36 models, Rinnai Korea 194 models, Altoen Daewoo 11 models).

Since 2015 until the end of last year, Seoul has distributed approximately 480,000 eco-friendly boilers. This has resulted in a reduction of 961 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 92,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). It also saved 38.16 million cubic meters of city gas, enough for about 64,000 households to use for one year.

Since 2020, the installation of type 1 (eco-friendly) boilers for home use has been mandatory in residences and commercial buildings replacing or newly installing boilers under the Special Act on Air Quality Improvement in Air Control Zones. Violations may be subject to penalties under related laws and regulations, so boiler-related businesses are advised to exercise caution.

Meanwhile, Seoul plans to intensively distribute 80,000 eco-friendly boilers during the ‘Seasonal Fine Dust Management System’ period implemented to reduce fine dust in winter. Im Mi-kyung, Director of the Green Energy Division, said, “Replacing with home-use eco-friendly boilers not only reduces city gas costs compared to old boilers but also significantly improves fine dust and reduces greenhouse gases,” adding, “We hope citizens will replace their boilers with eco-friendly ones to improve air quality and reduce heating costs.”

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