Korea govt to back $27.3 bn worth of green energy projects abroad

2021.01.14 10:17:24 | 2021.01.18 09:10:25

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]À̹ÌÁö È®´ë

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

The South Korean government that is pushing green industries as the country¡¯s next growth engines will spend 30 trillion won ($27.3 billion) over the next five years to finance local companies¡¯ solar and wind power station projects overseas.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and other related ministries on Wednesday outlined their plans for taking the Korean New Deal global.

Under the initiative, the government aims to double the scale of renewable power generation projects abroad from 15 gigawatts in 2019 to 30GW by 2025.

To this end, it will increase financing in the country¡¯s green and digital sectors to 30 trillion won through 2025.

The feasibility study of public institutions would also be overhauled. The study period would be cut from the current four months to two months, with the percentage of public assessment bumped up from 35 percent to 40 percent.

Government funding in the digital sector would be expanded to help the industry reach $250 billion in exports by 2025.

Energy experts, however, say government aid should also be extended to nuclear power, which is more value-added and is an area where Korea has a competitive advantage. Korea has been reducing the number of nuclear power stations at home in a bid to phase out nuclear power.

Korean President Moon Jae-in unveiled last July his vision for a Green New Deal, vowing to spend 73.4 trillion won over the next five years as part of efforts to achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The plan is part of a broader 160-trillion-won New Deal stimulus program aimed mainly at creating 1.9 million jobs.

By Pulse

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