Sep 13 2009
The Korean solar energy market has experienced a period of cooling down, and is now longing for new incentives. In 2008, Korea came 4th in the list of installed PV capacity according to EPIA statistics. This position was achieved thanks to a favorable feed-in tariff system with a cap of 500MW in 2008.
In 2008, the Korean government changed its successful feed-in tariff system. As a result of this change, the recently ignited Korean PV market is likely to shrink over the next three to four years compared with the success in 2008. The forecast market size in 2009 is around 98 MWp, increasing to 132 by 2010. Further growth to more than 160 MWp is foreseen for 2011. The new policy and financial support schemes, however, are also creating new business opportunities for the future. These are a few of the findings of a PV market report published this week by Solarplaza.
Korea is a typical example of a country lacking in its own natural resources, importing 97% of its energy sources from overseas. It is, furthermore, ranked as one of the world's top ten largest energy consumers. Today, Korea faces a number of challenges, such as achieving CO2 reductions to promote climate change, realizing energy independence and security, and ensuring increased volatility of resource prices.
The Korean government announced its new national "Green & Growth" vision in 2008, and this vision is actively addressing the challenges concerning the environment and energy resources not only as a smart solution to these challenges, but also as a new growth engine.
The Korean PV industry is growing fast, and is in close reach of other Asian tigers such as China and Taiwan; Korean manufacturers also have high potential. Korea's leading corporations - Samsung, LG, and Hyundai - had already immersed themselves in the PV value chain, and are expected to launch a range of competitive products targeted to hit the global market within the next one~two years.
Solarplaza and Kyung Nam Kim, solar PV expert and consultant, published the report this week. This unique and comprehensive report about the Korean PV market is available in English, and provides a detailed description of the market status, forecasts, regulation procedures and a detailed overview of the Korean PV supply chain.
At the third Solarplaza Global PV Demand Conference on 22 September 2009 in Hamburg, Prof. Dongwhan Kim, PV researcher and market expert, will discuss the current market situation, and present forecasts for the Korean market.
More information is available from www.globaldemandconference.com.