Choo Mi-ae: "Securing Eco-Friendly Power Is the New Battleground for Semiconductor Leadership"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae appealed for cooperation from global semiconductor and big tech companies—including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Apple, Amazon Web Services (AWS), ASML, Microsoft, and Qualcomm—pledging to make Gyeonggi Province a new global standard for the semiconductor industry, where advanced technology and eco-friendly energy grow side by side.

To achieve this, she outlined a plan to distribute 10GW of renewable energy by 2030 and to strengthen both the infrastructure and administrative support that underpin corporate RE100 compliance and stable power supply.

On the 27th, Governor Choo hosted the 'Global Semiconductor Companies Renewable Energy Policy Meeting' at a hotel in Seongnam, inviting representatives from global corporations and the global semiconductor association SEMI to discuss strategies to enhance the competitiveness of eco-friendly K-semiconductors.

Governor Choo promised, "We will not simply attract a few more semiconductor plants, but instead create a world-class, complete ecosystem in which the entire semiconductor cycle—from production and advanced package technology to research personnel and industrial infrastructure—is interconnected at the highest speed and with utmost stability."

She added, "While competition in semiconductors begins at the nanometer scale, the industry's real contest hinges on whether we can properly supply gigawatt-scale eco-friendly power infrastructure." She emphasized that securing a stable power supply and achieving RE100 are at the core of corporate competitiveness.

Gyeonggi Province is pursuing large-scale renewable energy projects and the creation of energy storage system (ESS) hubs, and plans to support the smooth implementation of power purchase agreements (PPAs) by linking the renewable energy demand of companies with power producers.

At the meeting, participants discussed issues such as the stable supply of renewable energy to semiconductor plants and data centers, easing the burden of procurement costs, expanding agrivoltaics, and ways to strengthen the effectiveness of the 'Gyeonggi Province-Semiconductor Companies Renewable Energy Partnership' established in November last year.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae is speaking at the "Global Semiconductor Companies Renewable Energy Policy Meeting" held at a hotel in Seongnam on the 27th. Photo by Gyeonggi Province

Attending companies emphasized that, to ensure ongoing growth and global competitiveness within the semiconductor industry, institutional systems and infrastructure must be put in place so that the necessary renewable energy can be secured in a timely manner alongside the stable power grid needed to meet massive electricity demand.

Gyeonggi Province plans to follow up with relevant authorities to specify company-by-company renewable energy needs and suggestions arising from the meeting, to expand supply infrastructure—such as the scaling up of solar power at industrial complexes—and to recommend that the government amend regulations that currently make RE100 implementation difficult.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province is promoting the 'Renewable Energy Transformation Plan,' which aims to expand the supply of renewable energy to 10GW by 2030 by utilizing industrial complexes, factory rooftops, agrivoltaic and floating solar installations, as well as public and idle land. Large-scale, public-driven renewable energy projects are also underway in areas such as Siwha and Hwaong districts, Pyeongtaek Lake and Pyeongtaek Port, and near the civilian control line in northern Gyeonggi.

Additionally, Gyeonggi Province intends to integrate distributed energy zones, virtual power plants (VPPs), and ESS infrastructure to compensate for the intermittency issues of renewable energy, and—in cooperation with the government, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and private companies—will advance stable power supply measures such as early construction of transmission and substation facilities to meet the expected 15.5GW power demand of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster by 2040.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.