The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment will accelerate the construction of a power transmission grid to supply electricity to the southwest semiconductor cluster. The Phase 1 grid needed to bring in the required power by 2030 will be built underground on state- and publicly-owned land along roads and riverbanks.
Kim Sung-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, discussed detailed power supply plans for the southwest semiconductor cluster containing these measures at the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City government office on the 16th. The government and the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City aim to begin mass production at the southwest semiconductor cluster as early as 2030. To achieve this, it is essential to supply power and water infrastructure within a few years.
According to the ministry, the most urgent infrastructure to supply the power needed by the southwest semiconductor cluster around 2030 is a transmission grid linking the 354 kV Shinjangseong and Shingwangju substations, located northwest of Gwangju, with the Gwangju military airport site. It is understood that the grid must branch off from the existing transmission network and connect about 20 to 25 kilometers to the candidate site for the southwest semiconductor cluster.
The method the government has chosen to speed up the process is undergrounding. Undergrounding involves burying high-voltage transmission lines beneath the surface, and costs up to 10 times more than transmission using towers. However, it has the advantage of avoiding construction delays caused by opposition from local residents, since there are no external structures. For the transmission line route, the government plans to make maximum use of land held by central and local governments, such as Provincial Road No. 49 and the waterside of the Hwangnyong Stream.
"We will push forward the project with the goal of building the Phase 1 transmission line by the end of 2029, in consultation with relevant ministries and companies," a ministry official said. "Because close cooperation between agencies is necessary, we have also decided to operate a working-level consultative body for the timely construction of the power grid, centered on the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment."
