Pohang in North Gyeongsang, Ulsan, and Seosan in South Chungcheong have been additionally designated as "distributed energy special zones," which the government is introducing for the first time. The three were eliminated in the first announcement on the 1st of last month but were revived after their supplementary plans passed. This confirms Korea's first distributed energy special zones as a total of seven local governments.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said on the 25th that it held the 37th Energy Committee meeting and finalized the designation of Pohang, Ulsan, and Seosan as distributed energy special zones. After designating four—Uiwang in Gyeonggi, Yeonggwang in South Jeolla, Jeju, and Busan—on the 1st of last month, three more were added.
In distributed energy special zones, corporations that generate electricity can conduct a direct transaction with corporations that need electricity without going through the Korea Electric Power Corporation. Current law bans combining generation (production) and sales, but the zones will relax such regulations.
Pohang submitted a plan to use green ammonia (ammonia produced without emitting carbon dioxide in the production process) to supply carbon-free electricity to local secondary-battery corporations. Ulsan said it would use liquefied natural gas (LNG) combined heat and power facilities to supply electricity at low prices to nearby petrochemical corporations and to SK and Amazon AI data centers.
South Chungcheong's Seosan also plans to directly supply power to a nearby petrochemical complex using LNG combined heat and power facilities. It also decided to use part of the electricity sales revenue to support the spread of solar power and the replacement of aging transformers in nearby villages.