Pohang City Policy Training Group Seeks Solutions for Region-Led 'Energy Transition Era'

Visit of COP Korea, Listening to Measures for Expanding Renewable Energy and Securing Community Acceptance

Mayor Lee Kang-deok: "Efforts to Quickly Establish a Sustainable Energy Self-Reliance Plan for the Future"

The Pohang City Policy Study Group, led by Mayor Lee Gang-deok of Pohang, has embarked on benchmarking excellent domestic urban cases to establish energy self-reliance policies in accordance with the Distributed Energy Activation Special Act to be implemented from June next year, and to prepare measures to secure resident acceptance of waste treatment facilities.

On the 30th, the Pohang City Policy Training Group visited COP Korea located in Seoul to understand industry trends and discuss ways to incorporate them into Pohang city policies.

On the 30th, the Pohang City Policy Study Group visited the Danish offshore wind power company ‘COP Korea’, ‘Hanam Union Park’, and ‘Namdong Power’s Bundang Power Headquarters’ to understand related industry trends and discuss ways to integrate them into Pohang’s municipal policies.

COP Korea, a Danish renewable energy company overseas, has been promoting the offshore wind power project in the southwestern sea (Shinan and Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do) since 2018, and is planning a 1.5GW floating offshore wind power project off the coast of Ulsan, comparable to one nuclear power plant.

On the morning of the same day, the policy study group visited COP Korea located in Seoul and met with CEO Yoo Tae-seung to hear about the global offshore wind power technology level, industry trends, and know-how on coexistence with fishermen, and discussed successful establishment plans for the 1.5GW public-led offshore wind power complex promoted by Pohang City and the Korea Energy Agency.

COP Korea stated that the competitiveness of Korea’s offshore wind power business would be higher than any other country in the world due to the combination of the headquarters’ technology, Korea’s manufacturing industry, and port infrastructure, and said that various projects to revitalize the local fishing economy, such as resident participation, preservation and additional formation of fishing grounds, and social contribution activities for vulnerable groups, are being reviewed for the success of the project underway in Ulsan.

In the afternoon, the policy study group visited Hanam Union Park in Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province, the first underground waste treatment facility in Korea, toured the facility, and learned about the know-how for resolving complaints during construction and measures to secure resident acceptance through the installation of resident convenience facilities.

Hanam Union Park is equipped with an observation tower, a multipurpose gymnasium, outdoor sports facilities, and children’s water play facilities available for local residents, and a complex shopping mall is located nearby, making the waste treatment facility not just a simple avoidance facility but a facility that coexists with residents, attracting attention.

Kim Young-hoon, an official participating in the policy study group, said, “Despite the perception of it being an avoidance facility, I was deeply impressed by the fact that it was installed near a residential complex through smooth agreement with local residents.”

Next, the policy study group visited Namdong Power’s Bundang Power Headquarters in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, toured the fuel cell power generation facility, and listened to the business status.

Namdong Power’s Bundang Power Headquarters has built a total of six stages of fuel cell power plants (40MW scale) in urban areas and is working to expand it to 350MW, about eight times larger, by 2030, actively promoting the hydrogen economy.

Kim Tae-yoon, deputy head of the Hydrogen Convergence Department at Namdong Power, said, “Hydrogen fuel cell power generation will be spotlighted in the era of distributed energy and renewable energy policies for carbon neutrality,” explaining the facility’s history and local energy supply plans.

Mayor Lee Gang-deok of Pohang said, “Pohang has recently been designated as a secondary battery specialized complex and passed the preliminary feasibility study for the hydrogen fuel cell cluster, leading to many investment inquiries. We are striving to secure additional industrial complexes and expand infrastructure such as power and water supply,” adding, “Today’s benchmarking will be a great help in quickly establishing a local energy self-reliance plan in line with next year’s implementation of the Distributed Energy Act and creating long-term energy plans such as realizing RE100 to secure the global competitiveness of manufacturing.”

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