“Boost public participation in Soyang Dam solar project” ... Chuncheon residents’ investment share just 4%

【The Financial News, Chuncheon—Reporter Kim Ki-seop】With Chuncheon residents’ investment share in the 89.3-billion-won Soyang Dam floating solar project set at just 4%, calls were made at the provincial council to increase public participation to as much as 50%.
According to Park Gi-young, a member of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Council (People Power Party, Chuncheon 3), on the 12th, the Soyang Dam floating solar project involves building a power generation facility with an installed capacity of 94.7 MW on the dam’s surface in Dong-myeon and Buksan-myeon, Chuncheon. Under the current plan, resident participation is set at a minimum of 4% of the total project cost, and participants are to be drawn mainly from residents of Dong-myeon and Buksan-myeon.
The government says it intends to pursue the project with resident participation. Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Seong-hwan has previously said that the plan is to return power-generation profits to the local community and involve residents in energy production and the sharing of profits.
Park made clear that there was no opposition to expanding renewable energy or to the project itself. However, arguing that the project uses Chuncheon’s resources and therefore needs a structure that ensures its benefits genuinely go to residents, Park called for a review of the resident participation model. The participation rate should be raised to as much as 50% after carefully assessing the project’s stability and profitability as well as the investment burden on residents; residents of Dong-myeon and Buksan-myeon should be given priority, while participation opportunities should be extended to all Chuncheon residents.


Park also stressed that Soyang Dam is a facility for which Chuncheon and Gangwon Province have shouldered a burden for a long time in the interests of national development and water supply to the Seoul metropolitan area. The point, Park said, is that it would be difficult to call this regional coexistence if the government reaps the benefits of expanding renewable energy and the Korea Water Resources Corporation earns power-generation revenue, while Chuncheon receives only a meager share despite enduring damage and various restrictions for decades.
Park also called for changes to when residents are consulted. Under the current schedule, a business agreement will be signed this month, followed by the formation of a public-private consultative council and resident briefings in November and December, before an application is submitted for a renewable energy cluster in December. Park said the briefings must not be reduced to a formality for presenting plans that have already been decided, and that residents’ views should be reflected from the stage of determining the participation rate, eligible participants and profit-sharing arrangements. Park also said there would be active cooperation with Chuncheon City to secure the greatest possible benefits for its citizens.
Park Gi-young, a member of the Gangwon Provincial Council, said, “A 94.7 MW power plant is to be built on the surface of a dam in Chuncheon, yet if residents are able to invest only 4%, the name ‘resident-participation model’ becomes meaningless.” Park added, “To ensure that resident briefings do not become occasions for announcing a foregone conclusion, we must decide the participation rate and profit-sharing structure together with citizens from the outset and create a genuine win-win model that returns the benefits to all of Chuncheon.”

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