Pyeongtaek's Linked Village Communities Benchmark Renewable Energy Model Village

Pyeongtaek City (Mayor Choi Won-yong) announced that village communities from Daechuri, Donggori, and Jukbaek 1-ri, which are preparing to launch sunshine income villages, held a joint benchmarking visit on the 10th to Guyang-ri in Yeoju city, Gyeonggi Province, a renewable energy model village.

A total of 38 residents, including village heads from the three communities and residents interested in the project, participated in this benchmarking visit, which took place as a voluntary participation initiative to successfully attract and prepare for the 'Sunshine Income Village' project, which is being promoted as a priority by the current government.

Guyang-ri in Yeoju, the site of the field visit, is a representative advanced case of a resident-led sunshine income village where residents directly form a cooperative to install and operate a solar power plant and reinvest and share profits generated from electricity sales to the village community, simultaneously achieving energy independence and revitalizing the local economy.

The residents from three Pyeongtaek communities who participated that day listened to detailed explanations about the formation and operation of Guyang-ri village's cooperative, the solar power plant installation process, and the structure of profit distribution to the community, toured the facilities on-site, and discussed concrete implementation plans for adopting a Pyeongtaek-based model.

The three village heads who participated in the field visit stated, "Through this benchmarking, we were able to learn practical operational expertise about the sunshine income village project, and the linked community project prepared by the city has been a great help," adding, "We will successfully build a sustainable energy-independent community tailored to our village's circumstances."

A city official stated, "The sunshine income village project can only succeed when the village community is at the center, and we appreciate the large number of residents participating in this benchmarking. We will continue to provide various support to ensure the project's success."

The 'linked project among resident-proposal recruitment projects for village communities' is a project being promoted uniquely by Pyeongtaek City in Gyeonggi Province to support community activities by village residents in connection with national projects. With subsidies of 3 million won provided, the funds are allocated for village community meetings, benchmarking, education, and other activities to prepare for sunshine income villages.