Daejeon to transform Daejeon Industrial Complex into an energy self-sufficient zone

[Financial News Daejeon=Kim Won-jun, Staff Reporter] Daejeon City will transform the Daejeon Industrial Complex, established more than 50 years ago, into an “eco-friendly smart industrial complex” that produces its own energy and uses it efficiently.
 Daejeon City said it had taken the first step in the project by holding a launch ceremony on the 20th at the Daejeon Complex Cultural Center in Daehwa-dong, Daedeok-gu, for the “Daejeon Smart Green Industrial Complex Energy Self-Sufficiency Infrastructure Development and Operation Project.” About 60 representatives from nine institutions and companies attended, including Daejeon City, the Chungcheong Regional Headquarters of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, the Korea Institute of Energy Research, Korea Western Power Co., Ltd., Daejeon Techno Park and the Daejeon Industrial Complex Management Corporation.
 Under a memorandum of understanding, the participating organizations agreed to cooperate on building renewable energy infrastructure and exchanging technology and information; identifying joint projects to achieve carbon neutrality and RE100 in industrial complexes; and promoting key achievements and best practices. Daejeon City plans to provide city funding and administrative support without disruption.
 The project moved forward after the Daejeon Industrial Complex and its linked complexes were selected in July this year for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s call for proposals for the “2026 Industrial Complex Energy Self-Sufficiency Infrastructure Development Project.” The project will run for 40 months, from September this year through December 2029, with a total budget of 33.46 billion won (20 billion won in national funds, 3 billion won in city funds and 10.46 billion won in private funding).
 Key initiatives include building distributed energy infrastructure, including at least 13 MW of solar power and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV); establishing an artificial intelligence (AI)-based integrated energy management system (FEMS); linking energy storage systems (ESS) with electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and providing RE100 and carbon-reduction consulting to tenant companies.
 In particular, the project plans to introduce a “Sunlight Income” model that returns revenue from renewable energy generation within the complex to tenant companies and workers, creating a virtuous cycle in which the benefits of energy production are reinvested in the local community. If completed as planned, the project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 5,723 tons by 2029.
 Moon In-hwan, head of Daejeon City’s Civil Economy Bureau, said, “This project will be a key catalyst in transforming the Daejeon Industrial Complex from a place that simply consumes energy into one that produces clean energy and uses it efficiently. With substantial national and city funding going into the project, we will lead it to success and create a leading model for a sustainable industrial complex.”
 Meanwhile, this effort to build energy self-sufficiency infrastructure is closely connected to the “Daejeon Industrial Complex Regeneration Project” and “Smart Green Industrial Complex Transition Strategy,” which Daejeon City has worked on for years. Established in the 1970s and criticized for aging facilities and environmental pollution, the Daejeon Industrial Complex has in recent years been transforming into a youth-friendly digital industrial complex, with the establishment of an ICT-based smart integrated control center and the expansion of roads and parking lots. The addition of a large-scale renewable energy base is expected to further accelerate the transformation of the complex.
[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter