"Achieving RE100 in Solaside Enterprise City"

At the '2022 Jeollanam-do Investment Attraction Briefing,' Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, is delivering a greeting. / Photo by Hanyang

[Asia Economy Reporter Noh Kyung-jo] Solarsido, a corporate city being developed in Haenam, Jeollanam-do, has emerged as the optimal site for realizing RE100. Solarsido is a large-scale public-private joint urban development project being developed together by Bosung Group affiliates such as Boseong Industry and Hanyang, along with Jeollanam-do and Jeonnam Development Corporation, in the Sanim-myeon area of Haenam-gun.

On the 14th, Seonamhaean Corporate City Development shared the future vision of Solarsido as the optimal site for achieving RE100 and as a renewable energy hub terminal at an investment attraction briefing hosted by Jeollanam-do. Attendees included global energy groups such as Aramco, POSCO Holdings, Macquarie Capital, and Hyundai Motor Company.

RE100 is a voluntary commitment by companies to replace 100% of their electricity consumption with renewable energy such as solar and wind power by 2050. Most global companies have joined this pledge. In South Korea, 26 companies including Samsung, LG, Naver, and KT have declared RE100.

Seonamhaean Corporate City Development plans to establish a 300 MW renewable energy supply system by 2025 using salt-damaged farmland near Solarsido. A hub terminal capable of simultaneous renewable energy production, supply, and consumption will also be constructed. Through this, renewable energy will be supplied to RE100 companies residing in the eco-friendly renewable energy industrial belt.

The Haenam-gun area has the highest solar radiation in the country, with climate conditions optimized for solar power generation. It has secured large areas such as nearby salt-damaged farmland and reclaimed land, providing site conditions that allow large-scale renewable energy production while minimizing environmental burdens such as forest destruction. Another advantage is the full support from Jeollanam-do and Haenam-gun for fostering renewable energy power complexes and industrial complexes.

Renewable energy generation infrastructure, including the country's largest Solarsido solar power plant (98 MW), has already been established. This minimizes the burden on system facilities such as transmission towers and transmission lines.

Additionally, Solarsido has already secured abundant industrial water and industrial land, and smooth exports are possible through the nearby Mokpo New Port automobile berth. In December last year, it was finally selected as a target site for the 'Regional Hub Smart City Development Project' by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Solarsido will have various infrastructure facilities to establish residential conditions, including ▲electric vehicle sharing services ▲shared vehicle autonomous driving services ▲autonomous shuttle bus operation ▲infrastructure and life services using Internet of Things (IoT) technologies such as waste treatment facilities and smart poles ▲metaverse tourism systems. Prior to this, the Solarsido Bridge, which allows access to and from Solarsido from the Yeongam area, was opened on the 9th.

A global data center construction project is also underway. In September, Jeollanam-do and Bosung Group signed an investment agreement with TGK (a joint venture of Diode Ventures and EIP Asset Management) for a $2 billion (approximately 2.8 trillion KRW) renewable energy global data center construction project. Through this agreement, five 40 MW-class RE100 data centers (totaling 200 MW) will be built in Solarsido by 2030.

A Solarsido official said, "Solarsido has all the optimal conditions for power generation through solar power," adding, "We will work closely with Jeollanam-do and others to ensure Solarsido grows into South Korea's renewable energy hub terminal."

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