[Captured from President Lee Jae Myung's X account]
[Captured from President Lee Jae Myung's X account]

President Lee Jae Myung used Friday's groundbreaking ceremony for a solar power complex in Haenam-gun, South Jeolla Province, to express his hopes for balanced regional development, saying "sunlight becomes industry, and energy becomes jobs."

Writing on his X account Friday afternoon, Lee said a solar power complex had "taken its first step in Haenam, at the very tip of the land," adding that the clean energy produced there "will provide a solid foundation for Korea's future industries."

"Advanced industries such as semiconductors and AI can only grow bigger with a stable power supply," Lee said. "I hope Haenam's clean energy will become the driving force behind the Honam semiconductor cluster and AI data centers, and a precious foundation for preparing Korea's next 100 years."

He said the most meaningful aspect of the project was that the energy transition would translate into industrial growth and regional vitality. "Energy produced in the region will nurture regional industries and create more jobs and new opportunities," he said, and went on to say he hoped the project would "serve as a turning point in easing the concentration of development in the greater Seoul area and overcoming the crisis of regional decline." He added that he believed "the change that begins in Haenam will spread beyond Honam to every corner of Korea."

Earlier Friday, the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy held the groundbreaking ceremony for the Haenam renewable energy complex solar project in Haenam-gun. About 250 people attended, including Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy Kim Sung-hwan, along with political and government officials and local residents.

The project will develop a 400 MW solar power complex — the largest on a single site in Korea — on 4.79 million square meters of idle land, including salt-damaged reclaimed areas, with completion targeted for 2028. Of the total capacity, 10 MW will be developed as agri-solar installations, allowing simultaneous demonstration of the coexistence of farming and renewable energy.

The Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy plans to establish a framework allowing local residents to participate in the project and share in its profits, returning a total of 150 billion won in power generation revenue to the community over the project's duration. Key equipment including modules, cells and inverters will also be sourced domestically as a priority, with the aim of strengthening Korea's solar industry ecosystem.

Once the complex is completed, it will stably supply 529 GWh of carbon-free electricity annually — enough to power 130,000 households — to companies pursuing 100 percent renewable energy use and to industrial complexes. The project is also expected to support efforts by Gwangju and Haenam-gun to attract businesses to their planned Solasido AI Energy New Town.


psj@heraldcorp.com