A solar income village [Herald Business DB]
A solar income village [Herald Business DB]

Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City announced Monday that 105 villages in the region had been selected in the government's second round of applications for its solar income village program — the highest number of any region nationwide.

The solar income village program is a resident-led initiative in which community members directly participate in renewable energy projects and share in the resulting revenue. The proceeds are used to boost residents' incomes and welfare, and are reinvested in local consumption and community projects.

The government aims to establish more than 700 such villages this year and more than 3,000 by 2030.

From the start of the application process, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City formed a public-private joint field support team — bringing together the Korea Rural Community Corporation, the Korea Energy Agency, Korea Electric Power Corporation and local municipal governments — to assist villages with their applications.

The city is conducting demand surveys and offering consulting services to encourage more villages to apply in the third round, which runs through Oct. 30.


sij@heraldcorp.com