Recently, while the government announced plans to promote the “Korean version of the New Deal,” it was argued that creating a smart energy city by transforming all of Jeju as a smart regional town is a desirable direction for Jeju’s Green New Deal.

The Jeju Smart e-Valley Forum Steering Committee (Chairman Lee Gwang-man) and the Korea Engineers Alliance Jeju jointly hosted the 23rd Jeju Smart e-Valley Forum at Nanta Hotel on Jul. 17th.

At the forum, Hwang Woo-hyun, president of Jeju Energy Corporation, diagnosed in a presentation on the topic of “Quadrilemma of the new energy business in response to the climate crisis and the strategy to lead the 4th industrial revolution,” that “due to the rapid growth of the world’s population following the development of industrial and medical technology, energy consumption has also rapidly increased, and energy supply is following suit to meet the consumption levels.”

President Hwang pointed out, “By expanding the power generation facilities using coal and oil to meet the surging energy demands, the amount of carbon generated also increased, leading to global warming.”

He explained, “As global warming has heightened the sense of crisis, the world is working hard to reduce carbon emissions. As of 2017, investment in new energy facilities around the world amounted to 298 billion dollars in renewable energy, accounting for 66.7% of the total.”

Hwang added, “In the case of Korea, we are equipping and supplying 15.1GW of renewable energy as of 2017. The government has plans to expand renewable energy to 63.8GW by 2030 in line with the Green New Deal.

While Jeju is steadily increasing the production of new and renewable energy through wind and solar power according to the Carbon Free Island 2030 plan, the current achievement rate is 11.5% for wind power and 19.8% for solar power.”

Hwang emphasized that although the number of electric vehicles in Jeju is close to 20,000, which amounts to 5% of the nationwide market share and maintains the No. 1 position, the aggressive supply of other local governments such as Seoul and Gyeonggi also needs to be watched.

He introduced a case of Gapado, where a population of about 300 had a commercialized microgrid that combines 100% renewable and battery-linked type for the first time in Korea: “They turned off the generators from coal and oil in Gapado and the whole island used only renewable energy for seven days. What’s made possible in Gapado should be the future of Jeju.”

President Hwang stated, “The three main goals of CFI Jeju are the expansion of new and renewable power generation, the expansion of electric vehicle supplies and the improvement of energy use efficiency.” He suggested that it is desirable to create a smart city by collaborating with domestic and foreign global companies using existing city infrastructure and smart grid demonstrations, in line with the government’s green new deal policy.

As Jeju has relatively preferable conditions such as clear business direction and infrastructure, Hwang argued that it is important to develop and implement strategies such as upgrading the system, systemizing the fostering of enterprises, and preoccupying the global market.

The Jeju Smart e-Valley Forum, held every month, provides an arena for industry-academia networks, such as discussions on the implementation of Carbon Free Island in Jeju and the fourth industrial revolution areas, e.g., smart grid, renewable energy, and electric vehicles.