MEASURES TO REUSE RENEWABLE ENERGY

[Anchor Lead]

The production of renewable energy is on the rise in recent years. But the amount of energy is far from stable due to weather. The government has introduced measures to overcome rapid fluctuations in the production of renewable energy and minimize its waste.

[Pkg]

Jejudo Island, home to more than a hundred wind turbines. Renewable energy accounts for about 16 percent of electricity produced on the island. Last year, wind power generation was either suspended or downsized 77 times. This was done to prevent massive blackouts due to overload when electricity supply exceeds demand. Thanks to ideal weather conditions, power generation on Jeju can be increased at any time. But there is no way to store or consume excess electricity. To minimize the waste, the government decided to use excess energy to produce hydrogen or thermal energy and utilize EV batteries for power storage. Benefits will be provided for using power during time slots when there is a lot of excess energy. A submarine cable will be built to transport leftover renewable energy from Jejudo to the mainland.

[Soundbite] Sung Yun-mo(Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy) : "By building a submarine cable for transporting energy from Jejudo to the mainland, we will maximize the island's capacity to use renewable energy and minimize output control."

The government is focused on distributed energy, whereby wind and solar power is generated and consumed in areas near where it is actually used, unlike existing nuclear and thermal power. Areas with distributed energy will be designated as special zones that will be allowed to hold energy transactions without the Electric Power Corporation's approval. The government will unveil a roadmap on promoting distributed energy in the first half of the year, and enact a special law.