How Seoul aims to cut its reliance on nuclear power
In the wake of the Fukushima disaster the mayor of Seoul implemented the One Less Nuclear Plant program, with solar energy production being ramped up as the alternative
About an hour’s drive east of Seoul, the sprawling Gangbuk Arisu Water Purification Centre processes enough freshwater from the mighty Han river to quench the thirst of three million people everyday.
But this public waterworks has one extra utility - dozens of photovoltaic panels installed directly above the plant’s settling basins give the 9.6 hectare facility enough electricity generating capacity to power for 2,040 four- person Korean households for a year.
This elevated solar plant is operated by two companies, which sell the 7,300kWh of electricity generated each year to state power company Kepco or for renewable energy certificates (RECs) tradable credits that allow a producer’s electricity to be sold at premium rates. The city government rents this land to the operators for just 140 million Won (HK$886,000). They expect to break in around five to seven years.
Another public waterworks, Amsa Arisu, hosts a 5MW solar plant run by the Energy Peace Foundation, a non-profit, which uses the power to help 2,400 households living in “energy poverty” - families who fork out more than 10 per cent of their disposable income on power bills.
Gangbuk and Amsa Arisu are just a few of the fruits of an ambitious energy policy directive called the One Less Nuclear Plant programme implemented by Seoul’s mayor Park Won Soon in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. It is now in its second phase.