Ministry of Industry: "Frequent Delays in Transmission and Substation Construction Due to Local Government Non-Cooperation... Negative Impact on Renewable Energy Expansion"

Request for Local Governments' Cooperation on Permits at Jeonnam-Gwangju Power System Council
Meeting

The government expressed concern that construction delays frequently occur due to the lack of cooperation from local governments, which hold the authority to grant permits during the construction of transmission and substation facilities. Recently, as the government’s efforts to expand the power grid were hindered by decisions such as Hanam City's refusal to approve the 'Dongseoul Substation Indoor Expansion Project,' it called for cooperation from local governments.

On the 27th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a power system coordination meeting for Jeonnam and Gwangju at the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) headquarters in Naju, Jeonnam, where they shared and discussed the necessity of guiding system management substations and measures to promptly resolve system shortages and instability.

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Currently, approximately 10GW of renewable energy facilities are in commercial operation in the Honam region. Furthermore, an additional 32GW of renewable energy facilities, which have already received power generation project permits, are scheduled to be connected to the Honam power system, steadily increasing the renewable energy capacity in the region to about 42GW by the end of 2031.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated, "In the Honam region, if additional power generation facilities enter beyond those already operating and planned until 2031, there are concerns about system instability in the area. There is also a risk of this instability spreading nationwide, and output control is expected to expand."

Considering this situation, the power authorities have been publicly guiding 205 substations, including those in Honam, the East Coast, and Jeju, as system management substations since May 30. New power generation facilities seeking to connect to these system management substations are conditionally permitted only if they connect after the power grid is completed, i.e., after 2032.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy views early expansion of the power grid as essential for a more fundamental solution. The government and KEPCO are currently promoting the early construction of large-scale transmission lines between regions to resolve the shortage and instability of the Honam power system.

However, construction delays frequently occur due to the lack of cooperation from local governments that hold the authority to grant permits for transmission and substation facility construction, with many delay cases also occurring in the Honam region. The ministry expressed concern that if such cases are repeated, delays in system reinforcement could adversely affect the spread of renewable energy.

Accordingly, at this meeting, they preemptively checked factors causing delays in power grid construction that threaten the spread of renewable energy and focused on discussing ways to encourage active permit cooperation from local governments for power grid construction. They also collected local issues and suggestions related to this matter.

Lee Ok-heon, Director of Power Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "If the construction schedule of the power grid is shortened through active permit cooperation from local governments, system saturation will be resolved earlier, and the connection period for new power generation facilities is expected to be advanced. Power grid construction is essential to resolve system saturation in the Honam region, and to solve this, not only the central government's efforts but also the role of local governments holding permit authority is very important. We will continue to actively communicate with local governments going forward."

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