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A solar power plant at the Amsa Arisu Water Purification Centre Photo: Ernest Kao

How Seoul aims to cut its reliance on nuclear power

In the wake of the Fukushima disaster the mayor of Seoul implemented the One Less Nuclear Plant program, with solar energy production being ramped up as the alternative

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About an hour’s drive east of Seoul, the sprawling Gangbuk Arisu Water Purification Centre processes enough freshwater from the mighty Han river to quench the thirst of three million people everyday.

But this public waterworks has one extra utility - dozens of photovoltaic panels installed directly above the plant’s settling basins give the 9.6 hectare facility enough electricity generating capacity to power for 2,040 four- person Korean households for a year.

This elevated solar plant is operated by two companies, which sell the 7,300kWh of electricity generated each year to state power company Kepco or for renewable energy certificates (RECs) tradable credits that allow a producer’s electricity to be sold at premium rates. The city government rents this land to the operators for just 140 million Won (HK$886,000). They expect to break in around five to seven years.

Elevated solar PV panels above pools of water at the Gangbuk Arisu Water Purification Centre Photo: Ernest Kao

Another public waterworks, Amsa Arisu, hosts a 5MW solar plant run by the Energy Peace Foundation, a non-profit, which uses the power to help 2,400 households living in “energy poverty” - families who fork out more than 10 per cent of their disposable income on power bills.

Gangbuk and Amsa Arisu are just a few of the fruits of an ambitious energy policy directive called the One Less Nuclear Plant programme implemented by Seoul’s mayor Park Won Soon in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. It is now in its second phase.

READ MORE: South Korea approves two new nuclear power plants

The scheme aims to offset the central government’s policy of expanding nuclear usage by cutting electricity consumption, increasing location production of renewable energy and ultimately, raise the capital’s self-reliance in electricity to 20 per cent by 2020 from just three per cent the year before Fukushima.

The central government wants to increase the number of nuclear power plants but we believe nuclear plants have their inherent problems

Upon completion of the One Less Nuclear Plant programme’s first phase, the city managed to meet its target of saving two million tonness of oil equivalent (TOE) in electricity - roughly the amount of electricity a nuclear plant in Korea can produce. It is now aiming to hit four million.

Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon in his office at Seoul City Hall. Photo: Ernest Kao

“The central government wants to increase the number of nuclear power plants but we believe nuclear plants have their inherent problems,” Park says.

He acknowledges Seoul is taking an entirely different line on energy policy from the national government - South Korea will add 14 more plants to its existing stock of 25 by 2035.

“Seoul will do what it can do, such as letting citizens participate in cutting energy use or in producing more of their own energy. This is how we can thwart the increase in nuclear plants.”

Progress is being made at electrifying speed. Apart from public partnership programmes like Gambuk and Amsa Arisu, the government has launched a series of citizen engagement schemes as the Eco-Mileage system - where Seoulites are incentivised to save energy in exchange for “miles” that they can use for buying eco-friendly products and public transport vouchers.

Seoul will do what it can do, such as letting citizens participate in cutting energy use or in producing more of their own energy. This is how we can thwart the increase in nuclear plants

The scheme even provides generous incentives for regular city dwellers to install home solar systems. “These solar panels provide me with about 20kWH of power a month or 20 per cent of my monthly usage,” says Sim, pointing to the four PV panels hanging outside the balcony of his 14th floor apartment. He purchased the system for 650,000 Won (HK$4,153). Subsidies covered half of it.

Mayor Park acknowledges the schemes are expensive. But he adds: “It shouldn’t only be a matter of money but about whether we can generate more energy. This will benefit Seoulites now and in the future.

READ MORE: Balance of power: The future for nuclear energy in Hong Kong

Feed-in tariffs have also been maintained in Seoul despite the national government scrapping them in 2011.

“The Seoul metropolitan government works with enterprises on installing large scale PV plants. [Our] main role is to provide the space and businesses can provide the capital. Through such cooperation we can reduce the financial burden on the Seoul government.”

Greenpeace Hong Kong senior campaigner Frances Yeung Hoi-shan believed projects like Gangbuk and Amsa Arisu could provide the answers to Hong Kong’s presumed inability to develop more renewable energy production due to constraints of tight public purse strings, inadequate land and a high energy density.

The green group is campaigning for the territory to stop importing nuclear energy from Daya Bay and to use more renewables.

While green group’s continue the push for this in Hong Kong, academics and officials are less sanguine about the potential. “The physical environment of Hong Kong has imposed a lot of constraints on the wide application of renewable energy, including solar energy,” an Environment Bureau spokeswoman said.

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