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Green New Deal to add 2,000 start-ups under a new plan

Published: 22 Sep. 2020, 17:05

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, third from right, watches a solar energy monitor at Soul Energy, a solar energy consulting firm, in central Seoul on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The number of energy-related start-ups will be increased to 4,000 under a government plan that will focus on six sectors.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy laid out a support strategy on innovative energy companies as part of the Moon Jae-in government's Green New Deal.

Solar energy operating and management, virtual power plants, wind power supporting services, electric vehicle (EV) battery-related services, renewable energy-related materials, parts and equipment and building energy-efficiency management are the six areas of focus.

The research and development (R&D) will be focused on operating and management platforms as well a data system that will monitor deficient solar panels in real-time.

The government plans to implement a system that will control the output of virtual power plants, a cloud-based network of decentralized power generators. A virtual power plant is a key technology used in renewable energy power generators, whether it be solar or wind.

The government plans to allocate 40 billion won ($34.4 million) on virtual power plants by 2025, up from 8.7 billion won this year.

On wind power, the government plans to increase the participation of innovative energy companies in major wind farms.

Additionally, it said it will increase the R&D budget on developing an operating and management platform as well as a smart-turbine control system from 30 billion won this year to 50 billion won by 2025.

The government said by 2022 it will invest 6.9 billion won in creating an EV battery-testing site on Jeju Island. It will also create a platform that will collect and analyze data on EV batteries conducted by the state-financed Korea Electronics Technology Institute.

The total budget will be 20 billion won in 2025, from 9.5 billion won this year.

The government also plans to spend 45 billion won by 2025, up from 22.5 billion won, on R&D in materials, parts and equipment related to renewable energy, including smart inverters for solar panels and floating devices for wind power smart sensors.

For building energy efficiency, the government plans to invest 45 billion won, up from 22.5 billion won this year, which will include creating a standard for building energy management systems (BEMS) and smart sensors.

In addition to the development, the government will also provide financial and marketing support for the energy-innovative start-ups.

As of last year, the number of energy-innovative companies was 2,029, whose total revenue as of 2018 amounted to 9.69 billion won.

The annual average revenue increase is 9.4 percent, with an operating profit ratio of 4.6 percent.

The government estimated that when the number of such companies increases to 4,000 by 2025, the number of people employed will increase from 35,000 as of last year to 95,000.

“Innovative companies in energy equipped with new technologies and ideas will bring about innovation in the energy industry in a time of paradigm shift represented through decarbonization, decentralization and digitalization,” said Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [[email protected]]