Pohang City Accelerates Development of Secondary Battery Specialized Complex ... Promotes 'Customized Support'

Government to Foster Advanced Industry Innovation Ecosystem... Announces Cluster-Specific Support Measures

Accelerating Creation of Specialized Complexes Including Infrastructure Expansion and Blue Valley Power Infrastructure Enhancement

On the 14th, as the government held an emergency economic ministers' meeting and announced the 'Customized Support Plan for Advanced Industry Clusters,' the development of the Pohang Secondary Battery Specialized Complex is expected to accelerate.

Yeongilman Industrial Complex.

At the meeting, the government decided to swiftly implement customized support measures for the Pohang Secondary Battery Specialized Complex, including expanding the scope of infrastructure support, early implementation of site leveling, and expansion of power infrastructure in the Blue Valley Industrial Complex.

The government has designated advanced industry clusters such as advanced specialized complexes and national advanced industrial complexes to strengthen the competitiveness of advanced industries. It plans to rapidly develop the designated clusters and focus support policies on building an innovation ecosystem.

Since its designation in July, the Pohang Secondary Battery Specialized Complex has secured government support following the fast-track promotion of the specialized complex by closely consulting with relevant ministries to ensure smooth large-scale investments by tenant companies.

The Pohang Specialized Complex, centered around leading companies such as Ecopro and POSCO Future M, is scheduled to receive investments totaling 14 trillion won by 2027, the largest scale for a specialized complex, and has been making significant efforts to expand industrial complex infrastructure to support timely production activities of secondary battery companies.

The city, together with Gyeongbuk Province, has continuously visited related ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to actively propose support for resolving corporate difficulties and regulatory improvements.

Secondary battery companies residing or planning to reside in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex require the construction of underground pipelines to discharge treated water generated during production processes into public waters. However, since this is not included in the industrial infrastructure support targets for advanced specialized complexes, companies have faced difficulties in investment and have been requesting the government to build underground pipelines.

With the plan to include underground pipelines for secondary battery treated water in the infrastructure support targets of advanced specialized complexes, it is expected that production and settlement of secondary battery companies in the specialized complex will gain momentum.

Along with this, the establishment of salt concentration guidelines for direct marine discharge of saline wastewater generated by secondary battery companies will reduce investment uncertainties in the secondary battery sector, leading to rapid development of the specialized complex and company settlement.

Currently, the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex is undergoing procedures to change the industrial complex plan to accommodate secondary battery companies. Since it takes more than six months to complete the changes and start construction of production plants on sites with elevation differences, early implementation of site leveling has been proposed.

To ensure timely large-scale investments by secondary battery companies, the project implementer (LH) will carry out site leveling work first, with the costs borne by companies signing the occupancy agreement, enabling rapid commencement of production plant construction and securing national-level industrial competitiveness.

Additionally, large-scale power supply is essential for secondary battery material production. As leading companies such as Ecopro and POSCO Future M continue large-scale investments in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex, an additional power supply of about 600 MW or more will be needed by 2028, prompting requests for power infrastructure expansion.

By 2025, the transmission lines connecting the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex will be replaced and reinforced with power lines capable of large-scale power supply, and a 345 kV transformer will be added to the New Pohang Substation, expanding power infrastructure suitable for tenant companies' demands, which is expected to accelerate corporate investments.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok stated, “We welcome the government's decision on customized support for the secondary battery specialized complex,” and emphasized, “We will make groundbreaking improvements in industrial complex infrastructure expansion and regulatory reforms so that companies in the specialized complex can focus on production with peace of mind and leap forward as Korea's top advanced cluster.”

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