Isramart : S. Korea plans fuel cell subsidy for 2010

Isramart news:
The Korean government is forging ahead with plans to promote renewable energy, announcing plans today to offer subsidies starting in 2010 that would eliminate 80 percent of the cost of hydrogen fuel cells to power and heat homes.

According to Korea's JoongAng Daily newspaper, the subsidies would drop to 50 percent of the system cost from 2013 to 2016, and to 30 percent from 2017 to 2020 before expiring. A system today would typically cost 50 million won ($40,300), but government subsidies and economies of scale could reduce the cost to 10 million won in 2015 and 5 million won in 2018.

South Korea generates 2.49 percent of its electricity from renewables, with less than 0.1 percent from fuel cells, solar and wind. The government has announced plans to reach 3 percent renewables within three years, with the Renewable Portfolio Standard increasing to 10 percent of energy demand from renewables by 2020.

Wind is expected to make up a significant portion of energy demand by 2014, which is the targeted completion date for two major projects still in the planning stages.

The Korea Development Institute is studying the feasibility of a proposed 40-megawatt project on reclaimed land at Saemangeum that would serve as a test-bed for Korean wind technology (see S. Korea plans $72M for renewable energy). The Presidential Committee on Green Growth said today it wants to build a 400 billion won, 100-MW wind farm on the country's west coast.

Solar is expected to also comprise a significant portion of the RPS requirements, with government aiming for 100 MW by 2011. A 2008 JP Morgan report said South Korea is going to be one of the fastest growing solar markets during the next four years, potentially growing power generating capacity 89 percent to nearly 1 gigawatt from solar