On the afternoon of the 7th, at the Dambau Energy Supply Center in Jangam-ri, Jangyeon-myeon, Goesan, North Chungcheong. The heat from the boiler made the indoors sweltering, but the power generation equipment installed on one side was stopped.
It is a combined heat and power generator, the core facility of the Forest Energy Self-Reliant Village project promoted by the Korea Forest Service. To run the generator, grade-1 wood chips with moisture content of 15% or less are needed, but fuel supply is not smooth, so it is currently not operating.
◇Spent 6.3 billion won, but… power generation equipment is "stopped"
The Forest Energy Self-Reliant Village is a project that uses unused forest biomass in mountain villages to produce and supply heat and electricity on their own.
The Dambau Energy Supply Center is cited as a representative case. The total project cost is 6.3 billion won. It was funded with 2.2 billion won in national funds, 2.6 billion won in local funds, and 1.5 billion won from the Local Extinction Response Fund. The facility is equipped with two wood chip boilers and combined heat and power equipment.
The facility currently provides heating and hot water by central supply to 60 households in the Jangam-ri area. Residents pay fees based on usage, but they say costs are lower than individual heating. The Energy Supply Center estimated the annual energy expense reduction per household at about 1 million won. The total savings for all 60 households is about 60 million won a year.
A simple calculation shows it would take more than 100 years to recover the investment. But according to Korea Forest Service data, the service life of a wood chip boiler is only 20 years, and the service life of the combined heat and power equipment is only 15 years. Considering the lifespan of the core equipment, critics say it lacks economic feasibility.
In particular, the power sales business the Korea Forest Service expected has effectively stopped. The agency had explained that by using unused biomass, it could reduce heating and electricity bills and even generate revenue by selling surplus power.
It also expected to reduce carbon emissions compared with individual heating through dust collection equipment and a carbon capture system, and to create jobs in mountain villages.
But assessments say reality falls short of expectations. Goesan County even invested additional funds and built a Forest Resource Circulation Center nearby, saying it would create a supply base for generator wood chips, but it failed to install the core equipment to produce and dry wood chips, citing budget shortfalls and other reasons.
◇From Bonghwa and Hwacheon to Yeongdeok… controversy repeats
Similar problems have recurred in prior projects. In Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang, a pilot project for the nation's first Forest Carbon Circulation Village was pursued at a cost of 5.3 billion won, but the burden of fuel costs and design issues overlapped, and it shut down in less than a year of operation.
Hwacheon, Gangwon's central heating project based on wood pellets also faced ongoing controversy over low efficiency, and at a National Assembly audit it was even criticized as a "white elephant."
Even so, the Korea Forest Service is maintaining its policy to expand the project. Last year, it selected Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang, as a new project site. The Yeongdeok project is also set to receive a total of 6.5 billion won in public funds, including 2.2 billion won in national funds.
Park Eun-sik, then Vice Administrator of the Korea Forest Service (now Korea Forest Service chief), visited the Goesan Dambau Energy Supply Center in January and said, "The Forest Energy Self-Reliant Village is a carbon-neutral project to improve residents' convenience, such as heating and hot water, by using wood chips," adding, "We will spare no policy support to further vitalize the project."
◇"Waste of public funds" vs. "energy welfare"… divided assessments
Experts are also divided. Some say the low economic feasibility makes it a waste of public funds, while others say it is needed for energy self-reliance in mountain villages and carbon neutrality.
Seo Myeong-won, a professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering at the University of Seoul, said, "The idea of using unused domestic biomass is meaningful, but when you factor in raw material collection and transportation expense, it is hard to expect economic feasibility," adding, "The expense to produce wood chips domestically is structurally higher than importing from overseas."
The Korea Forest Service, on the other hand, says it is meaningful in terms of reducing dependence on fossil fuels and improving energy welfare in mountain villages. A Korea Forest Service official explained, "Energy supply using forest biomass is a public project that is difficult to evaluate based on simple revenue alone."