• Promotion of public geothermal energy by creating geothermal landmarks in five major areas including Garak Market and Yongsan Dreamhub
• Overcoming barriers to geothermal energy expansion such as improving regulatory systems, providing incentives, and offering tailored consulting to address investment costs and construction delays
• Expects to see 518,000 tons of GHG reduction with 1 GW of geothermal energy, which is equivalent to the effects of 320,000 EVs

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced to intensify its efforts to become a world-class geothermal energy city in line with global efforts for energy transition to achieve carbon neutrality. The city plans to expand the current supply of geothermal energy, which is currently at 278 MW for building cooling/heating, to a level of 1 GW (1,000 MW) by 2030, equivalent to the capacity of one nuclear power plant.

To lead the expansion of geothermal energy in the public sector, the city will establish geothermal landmarks by introducing geothermal facilities in five major areas such as Garak Market and Yongsan Dreamhub.

To alleviate barriers to the installation and operation of geothermal cooling/heating, such as high initial investment costs and construction delays, the city plans to introduce a new pilot municipal geothermal incentive program starting next year. The city also plans to operate an advisory/consultative group comprising experts to provide guidance from project planning to operations.

The city prepared a comprehensive geothermal expansion plan with these contents as the main focus. The key focus is to transition geothermal energy into a major energy source in downtown areas, in order to address the high contribution of greenhouse gas emissions from building heating.

According to the plan, the city expects to reduce 518,000 tons of GHG emissions by promoting 1 GW of geothermal energy by 2030. This is expected to have an impact equivalent to 323,839 electric vehicles.

The city announced its determination to continuously increase the rate of renewable energy in Seoul with geothermal energy as the centerpiece to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.