Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Develop Renewable Energy Infrastructure on Idle Land

Example diagram of solar power generation facility installation (Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is set to establish renewable energy infrastructure on idle land along national highways.

On the 10th, MOLIT announced plans to promote the "National Highway Idle Land Utilization Solar Power Project," which aims to expand solar power generation?a form of renewable energy?by utilizing drowsy rest areas and idle lands managed by the government along national highways.

Detailed information will be announced on the official website on the 28th of this month. Private companies participating in the project will manage and operate the constructed solar power facilities for the next 20 years. After this recruitment announcement, proposals will be received and evaluated, with a preferred negotiation partner selected by May, followed by signing an agreement with the Regional Land Management Office.

The total scale of the solar power facilities for this public project is 25 MW, planned to be implemented as 5 MW per each of the five regional offices: Seoul, Wonju, Daejeon, Iksan, and Busan. The 25 MW capacity is enough to supply electricity for about 20,000 households for one year.

Each Regional Land Management Office will identify and propose candidate sites suitable for installing solar power facilities, such as drowsy rest areas, green zones at interchanges and junctions, and embankment slopes along national highways. Applicants may also discover and submit alternative sites along national highways outside the proposed candidates.

Although there have been cases where individual businesses obtained road occupancy permits to install and operate solar power facilities on idle lands such as embankment slopes and interchanges along national highways, there were no unified standards for installation, and maintenance was challenging. Through this private-sector competitive bidding project for solar power along national highways, MOLIT aims to resolve these issues.

A MOLIT official stated, "We will continuously promote renewable energy projects on national highways to realize carbon neutrality and accelerate energy self-sufficiency on national highways," adding, "We ask for the active interest and participation of private businesses."

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