163
fifth largest by 2050.
195
Green energy business, which includes four renewable energy
fields—solar PV, wind, fuel cell, IGCC—was declared as a new growth engine. In this
context, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) revealed its plan to promote four
renewable energy fields by investing in technology development.
196
In 2008, the Ministry
planned to invest 194 billion KRW in renewable energy technology development, which
was increased by 60% compared to 2007.
197
After the declaration
of the Low Carbon,
Green Growth, the government spending on new and renewable energy has sharply
increased (Figure 35).
Figure 35.
Government spending on new and renewable energy, 2004-2013.
Source: Korea Energy Agency; Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy
195
Ministry of Government Legislation, Laws on Green Growth in Korea, 11-1170000-
000341-14, 2009.
196
Ministry of Knowledge Economy has
named the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and
Energy in 2013.
197
Ministry of Knowledge Economy, “Promoting New and Renewable Energy as a New
Growth Engine,”
Press Release
, (July 29, 2008)
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200
400
600
800
1000
1200
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
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164
The experts of Korean solar PV field said that the effects of the Low Carbon
Green Growth were not very beneficial to the solar PV industry although the government
emphasized the importance of industry development. An expert from the Korea Society
for New and Renewable Energy pointed out that the vision did not include detailed
policies that would be helpful: “We had very strong domestic deployment programs such
as
the FIT or the RPS, so the vision was not meaningful. There was no detail about how
to develop industry. We could not give land for free or provide loan to certain companies
like China did. Therefore, there was no case that the government provided something to
companies directly. There was a saying that the government would provide financing for
exports but I don’t think that was very helpful for business”.
198
A former head of the New
and Renewable Energy Center (NREC) at the Korea Energy Agency,
pointed out that
renewable energy was marginal in Green Growth strategy: “In Korea, green energy
included nuclear power. Green Growth was for nuclear power rather than promoting solar
PV or wind energy”.
199
Apparently, however, a series of plans to promote renewable energy had been
released after the Low Carbon Green Growth. At the end of 2008, the Third Basic Plan
for Technology Development, Application, and Deployment of New and Renewable
Energy was released. The plan set two goals: 1) To provide 11 percent of energy with
new and renewable energy sources by 2030; and 2) Industrialization of new and
renewable energy as a green growth engine. The lack of
advanced technologies and
industrial infrastructure were pointed out as the problems of renewable energy
development by the government. In 2008, the government assessed the domestic
198
Interview #32
199
Interview #33
165
technology level of solar PV, wind, and fuel cell as 50-70 percent of the technology level
of advanced countries.
200
Moreover, due to the weak domestic industry, South Korea had
imported main renewable energy products from other countries. To solve these issues,
Korean government set plans to promote industrialization of renewable energy. It
established technology road map and product road map
for each renewable energy
technology. For solar PV, a road map for cost-down of solar PV system was set. The
development and commercialization of advanced solar PV technologies was set as
another goal.
In 2009, the MKE announced the plan for increasing the use of domestically
produced renewable energy products.
201
The Ministry planned to lead the projects to
install domestically produced wind turbines, and to revise the certification program for
solar products to reduce the quantity of low-priced imported products in the market.
Moreover, to promote the exports of renewable energy products, the Ministry expanded
the supports for domestic corporations’ participation
to foreign trade shows and
established an organization to lead the supports for renewable energy corporations’
development of foreign market under the Korea Trade-Investment Agency.
In the same year, the Ministry announced the plan to strengthen the industry
infrastructure for renewable energy.
202
To promote solar PV industry, it planned to create
100MW-scale domestic market by the pilot implementation of the Renewable Portfolio
200
Ministry of Knowledge Economy, “Third Basic Plan for Technology Development,
Application, and Deployment
of New and Renewable Energy,” December 2008.
201
Ministry of Knowledge Economy, “Establish 2009 Implementation Plan of New and
Renewable Energy,”
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