Gyeongbuk Province Begins Loan Support for Solar Power Facility Funds for Farmers and Fishermen This Year

‘Haetsal Energy Farming’ Support Project... 12.6 Billion KRW Loan Support (1% Interest Rate)

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Gyeongbuk Province announced this year’s ‘Sunshine Energy Farming Support Plan’ to promote eco-friendly power generation and increase non-farming income for farmers and fishermen in accordance with energy transition policies such as achieving carbon neutrality, promoting the Green New Deal, and the green economic transformation.

The ‘Sunshine Energy Farming’ support is a project initiated by the province as the first in the nation to establish an energy business promotion fund to generate and sell electricity using solar power on rural buildings and idle land, thereby creating a certain level of non-farming income and promoting it as part of achieving carbon neutrality.

This project has been a key policy promoted by the province since 2016 to expand the distribution of renewable energy.

As the stable effect of creating non-farming income has been verified and the number of applicants has increased every year, the province is continuously increasing the energy business promotion fund to expand the project scale and plans to support about 12.6 billion KRW this year.

The support targets are farmers and fishermen and their organizations residing in Gyeongbuk Province as of the announcement date.

Individuals can receive loans up to 140 million KRW based on a 100 kW solar power generation facility capacity, and organizations up to 700 million KRW based on a 500 kW solar power generation facility capacity, with an interest rate of 1% per annum under the condition of equal principal repayments over 11 years and 6 months after a 6-month grace period.

Considering food security and concerns about farmland damage, support is not provided for land actually used for crop cultivation such as rice paddies, fields, and orchards, or for buildings not registered in the building ledger or those without completed construction inspections.

Applicants wishing to apply can download the application form from the Gyeongsangbuk-do website under ‘Provincial News & Notices / Public Announcements’ and submit it by mail to the Energy Industry Division of the East Coast Regional Headquarters of Gyeongbuk Province from the 21st of this month to the 18th of next month.

Lee Kyung-gon, Director of the East Coast Strategic Industry Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “This project will contribute to stable income improvement for farming households and rural revitalization,” adding, “We plan to expand the establishment of resident-participatory floating solar power complexes and related green hydrogen production to achieve carbon neutrality.”

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