Board of Audit and Inspection: "Moon Administration Forced 'Renewable Energy' Despite 'National Security Threat' Reports"

'Status of Renewable Energy Project Implementation'
Board of Audit and Inspection Announces Audit Results
"Moon Administration Obsessed with Raising Targets Without Infrastructure Measures"

The previous Moon Jae-in administration was found to have pushed forward various renewable energy projects without thorough review, despite their low feasibility, in an effort to expand renewable energy businesses. Not only did they raise targets without establishing substantial infrastructure such as transmission and distribution networks, but corruption during the permitting and contracting processes was also uncovered. The Board of Audit and Inspection notified relevant ministries of necessary institutional improvements and decided to prosecute individuals suspected of criminal offenses.

On the 14th, the Board of Audit and Inspection released the results of an audit titled "Status of Renewable Energy Project Implementation," which focused on the side effects and controversies continuously raised during the rapid expansion of renewable energy supply over the past five years. The audit examined three areas: goals and implementation of renewable energy projects, infrastructure development, and management. The Board explained the background of the audit as "to induce effective implementation of renewable energy projects and strictly punish public officials who exploited government policies for personal gain."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The audit revealed that early in the Moon administration, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy reported that "to increase the share of renewable energy generation from 11.7% to 20% by 2030, it is necessary to supply more than twice the then annual average supply (1.7GW), specifically 3.7GW, which is a very ambitious goal," and warned that "significantly expanding project targets without securing essential infrastructure could threaten national security due to power supply disruptions." However, the administration failed to respond adequately.

Infrastructure such as the 'power system' for transmitting and supplying generated electricity, 'backup facilities' to cope with renewable energy variability, and 'sites' for installing power generation facilities were insufficiently developed. These shortcomings were temporarily patched or backup facilities were underestimated. Despite this, in 2021, the target was abruptly raised again to 30.2%, and the administration pushed forward with the plan, citing the need to establish even an unrealistic plan. Notably, from late June 2021, under presidential directive, discussions with the Ministry of Environment and others were held to raise the national greenhouse gas reduction target (NDC) within the year, and to meet this target, the renewable energy goal was raised to 30% without considering feasibility, with implementation measures to be determined later.

Regarding concerns about electricity price increases due to this energy policy shift, the public was given minimized projections. Since May 2017, as controversies over electricity price hikes due to energy transition arose, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced through government-party consultations in August that "there will be no electricity price increase for the next five years, and even thereafter, it will not be at a concerning level." In December, it reported to the National Assembly that the electricity price increase would be 10.9%, lower than the previous 13.9%.

However, in June 2017, the Ministry reported to the National Planning Commission that, assuming the current level of renewable energy settlement prices, electricity prices could increase by up to 40%, a major variable in price forecasts. The Presidential Secretariat requested a review, and the settlement price was forecasted under a scenario reflecting only downward factors such as price drops, excluding fuel cost fluctuations and other infrastructure costs, and the impact on electricity prices was reported and announced externally as not concerning.

Corruption such as preferential treatment during permitting and contracting processes also emerged. In July 2021, Taean-gun submitted a false restoration plan as review material to the Chungnam Urban Planning Committee during the permitting process for solar energy development activities, passed the review, and then issued permits excluding restoration conditions, granting some companies preferential treatment through land designation changes.

Gunsan City provided administrative convenience exclusively to a specific individual during the selection of the CEO of the investment institution responsible for overseeing the city's renewable energy projects. Contrary to announcements, document screening was arbitrarily skipped, and the executive recommendation committee was improperly involved in deciding the number of candidates so that most CEO applicants (4 out of 5) were recommended to the mayor as candidates.

It was also confirmed that public officials exploited government policies to unlawfully and unfairly operate solar power projects. An inspection of eight public institutions closely related to power generation permits, including Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), revealed that although KEPCO has prohibited employees and their families from engaging in solar power businesses since 2017 and requires reporting, a system reinforcement officer used connection capacity information to purchase advantageous sites and prioritized the connection of his own power plant.

Additionally, a former vice president of the Korea Energy Agency, the agency overseeing renewable energy supply projects, knowingly operated three solar power businesses under family members' names despite being prohibited from doing so under his own name. Including this case, a total of 251 people from eight institutions violated internal regulations such as family business reporting and concurrent position approval obligations.

Accordingly, on the 9th, the Board of Audit and Inspection notified the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of 23 items requiring institutional improvements across the entire project, including establishing targets based on reasonable grounds. It also demanded disciplinary action and accountability for seven individuals who mishandled duties and instructed each institution to conduct further investigations and disciplinary measures for 240 people who operated solar power plants without concurrent position approval and profited from it. Furthermore, 49 individuals suspected of criminal offenses were to be prosecuted.

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