Based on a report by PV Magazine, South Korea will be one of the leading nations in Asia that will promote and support sustainable energy by 2016. Along with South Korea, Japan, India, and China will also be leading the world in implementing renewable energy through their own significant projects and energy storage solutions.
“This positive growth will result in strong investments from the private sector both in the upstream and downstream segment of the solar industry value chain,” said the representative of research company Frost & Sullivan
By next year, solar power is expected to be the top renewable technology. It is predicted that the annual solar power generated by the end of this year in the region will reach 25.6 GW, which will increase to 33 GW in 2016.
However, consumption of fossil fuel remains big in South Korea, where various local oil and gas companies have signed contracts with foreign providers to build their natural gas liquefaction center overseas.
Currently, the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) is the main national oil and gas company in the country, which operates fossil fuel fields locally, and in its neighboring Asian countries, Vietnam and Indonesia. It has gas reserves of about 10 billion m3 and oil reserves of around 95 million m3 (600 million barrels).
But, most of the extracted fossil fuel worldwide still comes from Iraq and other Middle Eastern territories. Oil and gas services offer the following: construction, repair and maintenance, engineering, and workforce solutions. Since 2003, these industrial oil and gas companies have provided Middle Eastern workers job opportunities.
Although consumption of fossil fuel is still apparent in South Korea, the country tries hard to implement stronger laws to strengthen the adoption of renewable energy. The main source of renewable power in the country is solar energy.
So far, the Sinan solar power plant produces renewable energy from its 24 MW photovoltaic power station in Sinan, Jeollanam-do. Since 2009, it is the largest and widest photovoltaic installation in the whole of Asia. It was built by Dongyang Engineering & Construction Corporation and developed by the Conergy from Germany for $150 million.
Apart from solar panels, South Korea is now planning to build their own tidal power stations to attain their lofty sustainable goals.
