'Attending Carbon Neutrality Forum' Kim Dong-yeon "Government Needs Countermeasures for Renewable Energy Reduction"

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province (third from the right), is attending the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee plenary meeting held on the 25th floor multipurpose conference room of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government on the 19th, engaging in discussions with the panelists.

Gyeonggi Province held a session to explore provincial-level response measures in reaction to the government's trend of scaling back renewable energy policies.

On the 19th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it held an energy policy review meeting hosted by the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Building to seek response measures at the provincial level.

The meeting, held to find practical response directions to the government's renewable energy policies, was attended by Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon, Jeon Ui-chan, co-chairman of the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee, committee members, climate ambassador Kang Geum-sil, the Carbon Neutral Citizens Promotion Group, energy cooperatives, and renewable energy experts.

Jeon Ui-chan, chairman of the Gyeonggi Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee, explained the background of the meeting, saying, "Our country's energy policy is going backward, but I think Gyeonggi Province can create a role model in this difficult time," and added, "Since the role of local government heads in cities and counties is significant, a place for them to discuss together is also necessary."

According to Gyeonggi Province, the share of new and renewable energy in South Korea is 3.4%, the lowest among the 38 OECD countries. Nevertheless, the government has lowered the 2030 renewable energy generation target from the original 30.2% to 21.6%, and cut the renewable energy sector budget by 42%, from 1.049 trillion won this year to 605.4 billion won next year, significantly reducing the spread of renewable energy.

Additionally, the government has lowered the 2026 mandatory supply target ratio under the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) system?which obligates power producers above a certain scale to supply a certain percentage of their total generation from renewable energy?from 25% to 15%. It also abolished the fixed-price contract system, which guaranteed stable profits for small-scale solar power producers by locking in prices for 20 years.

In particular, regarding CF100, a concept recently proposed and led by the government as a substitute for RE100, energy experts expressed concerns that CF100 would not easily replace RE100, which involves participation from over 420 global companies. They worry that abandoning RE100, which has become an international standard and a condition in economic and trade matters, could cause problems for Korean companies' exports.

In response, attendees of the meeting unanimously agreed that successfully establishing Gyeonggi RE100 could influence changes in government policy. There were also suggestions to spread the achievements of Gyeonggi RE100 through cooperation with domestic and international local governments. As countermeasures to the reduction in government support budgets, discussions included expanding Gyeonggi Province's financial investment and improving the efficiency of fiscal projects.

Kim Joo-jin, CEO of Climate Solution, proposed, "Permitting is crucial to increasing renewable energy, and while companies find it difficult to voice such concerns alone, if local governments and Gyeonggi Province speak together to the government, it might be easier to make such demands."

Committee member Lim Jae-min explained, "Even if only in Gyeonggi Province, creating a standard ordinance to accelerate renewable energy production, designating special zones to expand farming-type RE100, and actively promoting cooperation among demand companies, supply companies, and residents could become a good example for South Korea."

Other committee members suggested promoting and consulting for small and medium-sized enterprises and activating cooperation between the province and cities/counties to implement Gyeonggi RE100.

Governor Kim Dong-yeon, after listening to the members' proposals, emphasized, "People tend to think that Gyeonggi's climate change response is all about RE100, but I hope we can develop more detailed measures. For example, there could be disaster response, energy consumption strategies, and I want us to look at the comprehensive picture together. This issue requires participation from not only Gyeonggi Province but the entire nation."

He added, "Gyeonggi Province is making great efforts to lead RE100. I hope even small but concrete results will come out. I will do my best to turn your good ideas into actual policies."

Gyeonggi Province plans to actively reflect the expert and citizen opinions gathered on this day in its renewable energy transition policies and to further specify response measures.

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