Under South Korean government’s 3rd Energy Master Plan as the new strategy for energy development to 2040, which was proposed in April and was approved at Cabinet meeting in June, 2019, renewables would cover 35% of total power demand by 2040 with around 129GW to be installed, and the government sees the potential to deploy up to 235 GW of solar and wind in the country.
With new PV installed capacity reached 889MW, 1.3GW, 2.02GW respectively in 2016, 2017 and in 2018, we witness the solar market is growing steadily and is one of the most promising and tremendous solar market in Asia Pacific. According to the latest MOTIE statistics, Korea added around 1.64 GW of new solar generation capacity in the first seven months of 2019, if the current trend continues throughout the remaining part of 2019, the country will post another record in annual solar installation. Meanwhile, with the lack of land for large ground-mounted solar plant, the solar development in South Korea will mainly focus on floating solar, Rooftop C&I, solar + ESS and sub-1MW system. To achieving the 2040 Vision, it is time that both local and international players shall join hands to seek the opportunities and tackle the challenges ahead of the industry.