HIGHLIGHTS

 • Despite the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s announcement of Guidelines for Location of Solar Power Generation Facilities, 57% of all basic local   governments have introduced separation distance regulations, and 83% of them have set a separation distance exceeding 100 m.    

 • An analysis of solar potential  resulting from changes by basic local governments nationwide to the separation distance of roads and residential areas has   shown that the current separation distance regulations limit nearly 80% of solar potential.  

 • In securing solar potential, separation distance regulations are a more significant constraint for roads than for residential areas. 

 • A detailed policy design suitable for each region is necessary because industry location, power plant site possession level, and urban density vary by region. 

 • Considering the current situation, in which the number of photovoltaic licenses is decreasing due to a lack of power plant sites, while many companies declare   RE100, improvements to solar power separation distance regulations should be implemented more quickly.

1. Introduction

As solar power generation facilities have rapidly expanded in recent years, conflicts between residents and power generation companies in regions where power generation facilities are located have also increased. Hence, the administrative authority with jurisdiction has introduced solar power separation distance regulations into local governments’ ordinances for the purpose of preventing or resolving civil complaints from residents (Korea Energy Agency, 2022). In principle, the Guidelines for Location of Solar Power Generation Facilities (‘the guidelines’) announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) would prevent heads of local government from setting and applying separation distance standards for solar power generation facilities (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, 2017). However, the guidelines are limited by being a non-legally binding recommendation. Since 2017, there has been a steady increase in basic local governments’ introduction of separation distance regulations, and currently, 129 (57%) of 226 total basic local governments implement such regulations. Among them, 105 basic local governments (82.0%) have separation distance regulations exceeding 100 m, which is suggested in the guidelines, 102 with 200 m or more, and 46 exceeding 400m, respectively. A few local governments, including Uljin-gun, Wando-gun¬, and Jangheung-gun, have road separation distance regulations reaching 1,000m.   

Through the guidelines, MOTIE has already clarified that concerns about the harmful effects of solar power generation facilities, such as light reflection, electromagnetic waves, and harmful substances, are groundless. Nonetheless, it is often pointed out that land utilization is limited by an excessively conservative separation distance to accommodate citizens’ complaints. Meanwhile, as more companies join RE100, a global initiative to replace all power consumption with renewable energy, the demand for expanding renewable energy supply is increasing. For example, major global companies including Apple require the de-carbonization of their supply chains by 2030 , and this trend is expected to intensify. Therefore, now is the most important time to satisfy industry demand for renewable energy and strengthen international competitiveness through reasonable improvements in separation distance regulations.

2. Current Status of Solar Potential According to Separation Distance Regulations

This issue brief analyzed solar potential according to separation distance regulations of roads and residential areas in basic local governments nationwide. For the analysis, global horizontal irradiation data was obtained from Global Solar Atlas . Using geographic information system (GIS) data, the analysis was conducted by applying regulations in the superior laws (Korea Energy Agency, 2020; Solutions for Our Climate, 2020) (Appendix 1) to each of the 226 basic local governments (Appendix 2). First, two cases were compared: 1) when applying each basic local government’s respective separation distance regulations for roads and residential areas and 2) when separation distance regulations were standardized to 0 m, 100 m (the distance suggested by the guidelines), and 300 m (the distance in 50% or more basic local governments’ separation distance regulations)  (Figure 2).

As shown in Figure 2, areas where solar power generation facilities may be installed are gradually increasing as the separation distance regulation is relaxed compared to current regulations. Compared to when there is no separation distance regulation, under current regulations only 22.7% of the installable area may be used, and the potential is less than half (Table 1). Lowering the current separation distance regulation to 100 m, as recommended by the guidelines, would secure an additional potential of 798 TWh. This figure exceeds the total power generation (602 TWh ) in 2021 and reaches 438 GW as installation capacity.

3. Securing Solar Potential through Relaxation of Separation Distance Regulations

Next, we investigated the change in solar potential that would be achieved by relaxing separation distance regulations for roads and residential areas, respectively. As shown in Figure 3, if the road separation distance regulation is relaxed to 0 m while maintaining the current residential area separation distance regulation, 524 TWh (approximately twice the current level) of additional solar potential may be secured (Figure 3, left). In contrast, in the opposite case (the residential area separation distance regulation is relaxed while maintaining the current road separation distance regulation), the additional solar potential that may be secured is only about 18% (104 TWh) of the current level (Figure 3, right). The reason is that residential buildings are often located near roads, while roads could be distant from residential areas. Accordingly, compared to when there is no regulation on separation distance, only 43% and 27% of solar potential may be utilized with the current residential area separation distance regulations and road separation distance regulations, respectively (Table 2). Therefore, if separation distances for both road and residential area cannot be lifted completely, the road separation distance regulation should be reduced to at least 100 m to expect meaningful changes. 

Table 3 shows the division of the above results by regional local governments (Table 3). Compared to when there is no regulation of separation distance, the regional local government with the largest loss in potential under current separation distance regulations is Chungcheongnam-do, which may only utilize 25.6 TWh (8%) of the total 311.2 TWh. The separation distance regulations significantly limit land utilization, as less than 10% of the technically feasible area may be utilized. The technically feasible area is defined as the total land area that excludes areas where solar panels cannot be installed due to geographical and social considerations, such as agricultural development regions, ecological landscape preservation areas, and tidal flats (Appendix 1). In addition, regional local governments such as Jeju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Jeollanam-do may utilize less than 20% of solar potential due to separation distance regulations. Because many companies are located in Gyeongsangbuk-do, such as Pohang and Gumi National Industrial Complex, it is necessary to actively consider improving separation distance regulations in order to achieve RE100 for industries, minimize transmission costs, and prevent system congestion. Meanwhile, changes in potential by adjusting separation distance regulations would be insignificant at 0% for metropolitan governments such as Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, and Sejong, due to the high population density. As a result, in these regions, it would be more effective to design policies to install solar power generation facilities on building rooftops and parking lots. 

Figure 4 shows solar potential that may be additionally secured under the current separation distance regulations, relaxation of regulations to 300 m, relaxation to 100 m, and no regulation, respectively, by each regional local government (Figure 4). If the separation distance regulation is relaxed to 100 m, which is defined as the maximum separation distance in the MOTIE guidelines, all regional local governments may secure potential beyond what is available under current regulations. One noticeable point is that since the current separation distance regulation of Gyeongsangbuk-do is too high, relaxing the regulation to 300 m makes it possible to secure 74% of the current potential. Therefore, these regions should review the relaxation of separation distance regulations more proactively. 

4. Conclusion 

In the analysis of photovoltaic power potential according to current separation distance regulations in South Korea, it was determined that 1) only 22% of solar potential may be utilized compared to the baseline case of no regulation and 2) in securing solar potential, separation distance regulation is a more significant constraint for roads than for residential areas. Furthermore, because industry location, power plant site possession level, and urban density vary by region, it is necessary to design detailed policies suitable for each region.

Considering the current situation in which the number of photovoltaics licenses is decreasing due to a lack of power plant sites while many companies declare RE100, improvements to solar power separation distance regulations should be implemented more quickly. There have been discussions for some time about improving solar power separation distance regulations, and a social consensus seems to have been reached. Since this brief has confirmed the solar potential that could be secured additionally after regulatory improvements, we hope that there is an immediate policy change.