Gyeonggi Province to Develop Unused Interchange Land into 'Sunshine Solar Power Plant'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gab-dong] Gyeonggi Province will develop unused interchange land at Seo-Suwon and Wol-am Interchanges into a large-scale 5.2MW solar power plant.

This is the eighth case of the 'Gyeonggi Sunshine Solar Power Plant' initiative, which establishes renewable energy power plants using public land and shares the profits with residents. It is the largest-scale project to date, with participation from 11,000 residents.

On the 26th, the Province held a 'Citizens' Sunshine Solar Power Plant Groundbreaking Ceremony' near the Seo-Suwon and Wol-am Interchanges, with approximately 100 attendees including Kim Seong-joong, First Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province; Kim Hyun-soo, First Vice Mayor of Suwon City; Ahn Chi-kwon, Vice Mayor of Uiwang City; and 39 cooperative organization chairpersons and members affiliated with the Gyeonggi Citizens' Power Generation Cooperative Council.

The Province previously installed a total of seven sunshine solar power plants, beginning with the installation on the rooftop of the main building of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government's North Office in February 2024.

This Seo-Suwon and Wol-am Interchange power plant project involves installing a 5.2MW solar power plant on 27,000㎡ (2.7ha) of public land near Seo-Suwon Interchange and Uiwang Wol-am Interchange. The power generation is more than seven times that of the previous largest-scale Gyeonggi National Gugak Center (0.726MW) solar power plant.

The project involves participation from 11,031 residents of Gyeonggi Province, who serve as direct power generation operators in cooperative form and generate profits from solar power generation. The Province anticipates expanding renewable energy supply without investing additional budget.

Notably, residents of Gyeonggi Province, including citizens' sunshine solar power cooperatives, directly identified the project site, and residents also participated in the project design process. This is being recognized as a new milestone in energy transition conducted together with residents.

Following the declaration of the Gyeonggi RE100 Vision in April 2023, the Province actively provided administrative support and leased idle land. Suwon City and Uiwang City spared no effort in administrative support through expedited permitting. This accelerated the complex administrative procedures in the project implementation process. The Province explained that this can be viewed as a new example of an integrated approach through cooperation between the provincial government, basic local governments, and the private sector.

Completion is scheduled for June, and the power plant is expected to achieve annual reductions of 3,112 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, by converting previously unutilized idle land around the expressway interchange into a power plant, the project achieves a dual benefit of efficient land use and renewable energy production.

Kim Seong-joong, First Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "This Seo-Suwon and Wol-am Interchange Sunshine Solar Power Plant is a representative success model of energy transition conducted together with residents," and added, "The Province aims to achieve RE100 for public institutions by next year and will pursue more active renewable energy policies."