South Koreas Samsung Group will invest 7.6 trillion won ($7bn) from 2021 to build a green energy industrial park, according to reports today.
The complex will be built in the west coast area of Saemangeum, in a new town on reclaimed tidal flats, Samsung Group told Reuters in a statement. The construction will be completed in three stages from 2021 to 2040. The first phase will see a wind power generator construction facility and a production base for solar batteries built by 2025, creating about 20,000 new jobs.
Plans for the second and third stages of construction have yet to be announced, but will involve the production of energy storage systems chiefly for the Chinese market. The investment is in line with a new business strategy announced last year to spend 20 trillion won ($18bn) in new areas of business such as green energy and healthcare.
Samsung has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to construct green-energy production facilities, a research institute and houses on an 11.5 square kilometre plot of land. The scheme is part of a 22.2 trillion won ($20bn) government project to transform the Saemangeum area into a regional economic hub. The government last month announced details of the project, which aims to turn the reclaimed 401 square kilometres into an eco-town with industrial and agricultural facilities as well as science and research institutes.
"Samsungs investment plan is compliant with the governments plan to make Saemangeum the base of Koreas green growth and the new growth engine," Lee Byeong-guk, a chief PMO official in charge of the project, told local press. In August South Koreas leading polysilicon maker OCI announced a plan to invest 10 trillion won in the Saemangeum project by 2020.
Source: Apec-vc
