By Jungdo Kim, Director of the ARC Center
On March 30, President Lee Jae-myung visited Jeju to host the “Jeju Town Hall Meeting.” This visit drew intense public scrutiny, as it was expected to unveil the concrete roadmap for one of his signature pledges: transforming Jeju into a “Carbon Neutral and Green Civilization Island.”
The blueprint was clear: establish Jeju as a global renewable energy hub, achieve island-wide RE100, and redistribute the benefits to residents through “Solar and Wind Dividends.” A pivotal part of this plan was addressing the grid constraints that have long bottlenecked renewable energy expansion.
In this context, the presentation by Kim Seong-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy, and Environment, was encouraging. The plan to immediately lift restrictions on 16 grid-managed substations, deploy a 1GW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) for grid flexibility, and expand renewable capacity up to 3GW addressed many long-standing concerns. Furthermore, the commitment to fast-tracking the Handong-Pyeongdae offshore wind project—Jeju’s first public-led offshore wind initiative—was a welcome response to the local community.
The declaration to achieve RE100 in Jeju by 2035 signaled a powerful administrative drive toward energy transition. However, a glaring contradiction lurks beneath this ambitious roadmap: the proposal for a new 300MW gas power plant.
It is logically inconsistent to aim for 100% renewable energy by 2035 while simultaneously commissioning a new fossil fuel facility. Even if construction began today, commercial operations would only start around 2030. Does the government truly believe it can decarbonize or decommission a brand-new gas plant in just five years?
While Minister Kim argues that the plant will eventually burn green hydrogen, the reality is that 100% hydrogen-fired turbines of this scale are not yet commercially viable. They cannot be deployed immediately. Furthermore, relying solely on green hydrogen starting in 2035 would require an astronomical amount of additional infrastructure. To power a 300MW plant with green hydrogen alone, Jeju would need an additional 2.7GW of offshore wind capacity and 800MW of water electrolysis facilities.
The estimated cost for such an undertaking exceeds 24 trillion KRW (approx. 18 billion USD), with a development timeline that far exceeds our climate goals. Pursuing this while simultaneously transitioning the entire island’s grid is practically impossible and economically reckless.
True pragmatism lies in the strategic concentration of resources. Instead of sinking 24 trillion KRW into a gas plant and speculative hydrogen conversion, those funds should be channeled into “Grid-Forming” technology and the deployment of synchronous condensers. Prioritizing the early acquisition of a 1GW BESS and preemptively adopting grid stabilization technologies would offer far greater utility and tangible benefits to the people of Jeju.
The pragmatism championed by the Lee administration must focus on “what actually works.” A gas power plant plan that only serves to derail the energy transition and fuel controversy must be entirely re-evaluated. What Jeju needs to become a true “Island of Green Civilization” is not outdated fossil fuel infrastructure, but bold, consistent, and future-oriented investment.
This article was published in the HallaIlbo on April 3, 2026, under the column [Kim Jungdo’s Field Perspective].