Seoul: The government has designated four special zones for distributed energy across South Korea, the climate ministry announced Wednesday. This initiative aims to attract advanced industries with high power consumption to these areas while promoting the use of renewable energy.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the designated areas include Gyeonggi Province, southwestern South Jeolla Province, Jeju Island, and the southeastern port city of Busan. These zones are expected to facilitate locally generated and consumed energy, reducing reliance on large, centralized power plants.

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment stated that the special zones will leverage renewable energy and energy storage systems (ESS) to offer lower-priced electricity through short-distance transmission. This will benefit data centers and other power-intensive industries.

Furthermore, the ministry indicated that the designated areas will implement projects to establish a next-generation power grid using microgrids and ESS. They will also explore new electricity trading business models.