GCF picks its first project

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has chosen Korea’s ICT-enabled renewable energy generation and storage system to be used in an area in Peru.

This is the first official project for the GCF after opening its doors in December 2013 in Songdo, Incheon.

The GCF’s 11th board meeting held Friday in Zambia finalized a decision to implement a sustainable energy system to provide electricity for native people living in wetlands near the Maranon and Pastaza Rivers of the Amazon basin, protect forests there and reduce carbon emissions.

The two areas have no access to the electric grid and are only accessible by boat. The native populations have some electricity from diesel power plants, according to the Peruvian Trust Fund for National Parks and Protected Areas (Profonanpe), the country’s forestry watchdog.

The project, worth $9.1 million, will begin in March and run for five years. The GCF, which is run by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will supply $6.24 million, Profonanpe $1.07 million and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) $1.8 million.

The project will build solar power generation and energy storage systems (ESS) to supply electricity to people’s houses and fruit-processing factories around the clock to partially replace diesel power. The project aims to improve the community’s economy by powering three existing factories and three new factories.

The renewable energy generation and storage systems developed by the Korea Electric Power Corporation and other small electricity companies are currently being test-operated on Gapa Island, near Jeju, and Gasa Island in South Jeolla. The technologies allow remote regions new energy sources.

BY KIM JI-YOON [kim.jiyoon@joongang.co.kr]