Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
North Korea has announced long-term plans to raise energy production up to 5 million kilowatts (kW) in 30 years utilizing a variety of renewable energy. The plan includes to secure 15 percent of necessary electricity through wind power and to raise renewable energy generation capacity up to 5 million kW by 2044.
The production goal of 5 million kW is an ambitious plan considering North Korea’s total output of the recently constructed Chongchon power plant which took three years to complete and has a total output of 430,000 kW. This plan was revealed by the internal resources of the ‘Natural Energy Institute’ which was established in November 2014 to develop pollution-free energy resources under the instructions of Kim Jong Un.
This renewable energy plan appears as one part of Pyongyang’s active exploration into the development of renewable energy to help resolve the country’s power shortages, in addition to the current measures of adopting energy resources from Russia and China and construction of large hydroelectric power plants. The plan entails measures to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels such as coal and oil while expanding development of renewable energy resources.
North Korea has promoted various investment and measures to expand the use of renewable energy since Kim Jong Un came to power. First, North Korea enacted the ‘Renewable Energy Law’ to provide legal guarantee for the development and use of renewable energy in August 2013. The law aims to “revitalize the renewable energy industry to continuously improve the economy and to protect the environment of the homeland.”
The Renewable Energy Law consists of six chapters and 46 provisions. The law includes the definition, purpose and basic principle for research, development and use, as well as planning, promotion, and strengthening of material and technical basis of renewable energy. The law also stipulates legal requirements necessary for guidance and control of the renewable energy sector. The law defines renewable energy as energy sources with reduced environmental impact such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and marine energy.
Second, North Korea seems to be making considerable progress in developing its own industry-specific technology. The Green Energy Joint Venture company displayed solar panels at the Pyongyang Autumn International Trade Fair held last year and at the 15th May 21 Architectural Festival, North Korea released the design plans of green homes that utilized solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources. In addition, solar energy-powered buses and small passenger ships were unveiled at the festival.
The Natural Energy Research Institute of the National Academy of Sciences was established in 2013 as a specialized research institute to develop technology for alternative energy resources such as wind, geothermal, solar, biomass, methane hydrate and hydrogen. In 2014, Natural Energy Research Institute Director Lee Myong Son revealed that, “among the wind turbine currently in use, 71.4 percent are in the 300w range while 28.6 percent are above that range,” indicating that most products used in solar and wind power generation are domestically produced.
In addition, North Korea established the Kwangmyong LED and Solar Cell Factory to domestically produce solar energy products. Since the enactment of the ‘Energy Management Law’ in 1998, North Korea has placed the development of wind, solar, tidal, biomass, fuel cell power as a top research priority and appears to have made considerable advancement over the years.
