South Korea’s renewable energy industry to remain stagnant

Experts cite lack of government support as reason for weak growth.

Combined sales of local renewable energy firms came to US$6.9 billion last year, down 7.9% from US$7.5 billion two years earlier, according to data from the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea.

The size of the global renewable energy market jumped 38% to reach US$260.8 billion over the similar period. This total is expected to reach US$271.3 billion this year.

Analysts said the performance of local renewable energy firms is expected to remain stagnant largely due the weak support from the government despite Seoul's emphasis on low carbon, green growth.

One analyst said the Chinese government provides full support for its renewable energy firms. In contrast, Korean companies do not even receive sufficient financial aid.

While 15 major banks in China offered US$332 billion in loans to their renewable energy firms, South Korean companies only received US$2.54 billion from local banks.

The government is being urged to thoroughly enforce the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) system that requires large-scale electricity providers to derive a certain portion of power from renewable energy sources.