Mayor Jung Myeong-geun and Minister Song Mi-ryeong Hold Groundbreaking Ceremony for 'Agrivoltaic Solar Project in Seoul Metropolitan Area'
Hwaseong Special City (Mayor Jung Myeong-geun) has taken the first step in a 'Seoul Metropolitan Area Resident-Participation Agrivoltaic Solar Pilot Project' that preserves farmland while increasing farm income, leveraging the city's characteristics as a rural-urban complex with the largest agricultural land area in Gyeonggi Province.
On the 13th, the city held a 'Seoul Metropolitan Area Agrivoltaic Solar Pilot Project Groundbreaking Ceremony' at Sasot-ri, Seosin-myeon, Manho-gu. The ceremony was attended by approximately 20 people, including Minister Song Mi-ryeong of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Mayor Jung Myeong-geun of Hwaseong Special City, officials from Gyeonggi Province, the Korea Rural Community Corporation, the Korea Energy Agency, and local residents, as they wished for the project's successful implementation.
The project was launched after Hwaseong Special City's Sasot-ri was selected as the final pilot project site for the Seoul Metropolitan Area alongside Songjeok Village in Anseong City in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' competition held at the end of last year.
The project is led by the 'Sasot Social Cooperative,' established directly by local residents. Among 169 total households, 119 participated, recording a 70% resident approval rate and establishing a public-private cooperation system based on high community acceptance.
Particularly significant is that, unlike conventional project methods led by external operators, the cooperative established by residents directly participates as the project's main body. Rather than distributing solar power generation profits to individuals, the proceeds will be accumulated as a community fund to be used as resources for enhancing local community vitality, including welfare for the elderly, village environmental improvements, and collaborative projects.
Through this pilot project, a 1-megawatt (MW) solar power generation facility will be constructed on approximately 2.4 hectares (ha) of land. The city plans to complete facility construction and power purchase agreements (PPA) by October, with commercial operations beginning in November.
The groundbreaking ceremony was conducted in two parts: Part 1 included a site inspection and symbolic groundbreaking ceremony, followed by Part 2, a residents' meeting held at the Sasot-ri village office.
Minister Song Mi-ryeong and Mayor Jung Myeong-geun participated in the residents' meeting following the groundbreaking ceremony, hearing about field difficulties and suggestions from Sasot Social Cooperative executives and residents during project implementation, and discussing methods for improving laws and systems to activate agrivoltaic solar projects.
At the meeting, the city proposed to the government measures to protect farmers' interests and resolve institutional difficulties arising from project implementation, including: △institutionalizing revenue sharing and equity participation for tenant farmers, △providing substitute farmland and compensating for agricultural losses, △decommissioning non-functioning agricultural infrastructure (such as drainage channels), and △obtaining permits for alternative uses for installing solar power generation facilities.
Mayor Jung Myeong-geun of Hwaseong Special City stated, "This project is significant in that residents directly become the project's main body, preserving farmland while sharing the profits generated from solar power generation with the local community," and added, "We will actively cooperate with the government so that residents' opinions from the field can lead to institutional improvements, and we will support Sasot-ri's project to become a model case for 'Sunshine Income Villages' across the nation, extending beyond the Seoul Metropolitan Area."