Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun Cheol on Nov. 26 speaks at a joint meeting of economic ministers and a strategic growth task force held at Government Complex-Sejong. (Ministry of Economy and Finance)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

The country's top economic official has pledged to make Korea the world's first to commercialize next-generation solar modules by 2028.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun Cheol on Nov. 26 announced this while presiding over a joint meeting of economic ministers and a strategic growth task force at Government Complex-Sejong as part of his ministry's third plan for "15 leading projects for super innovation."

Six announced tasks in climate, energy and future response included next-generation solar power and power grids, offshore wind power, high-voltage direct current transmission, green hydrogen and small modular reactors.

"We will raise the capacity of our renewable energy industry to the level of a global leader," Minister Koo said in his opening speech. "We will commercialize high-efficiency tandem cell modules by 2028 for next-generation solar power and mass produce 20-megawatt ultra-large turbines within five years for offshore wind power."

For the commercial application of next-generation solar power, the plan is to swiftly secure and support core technologies such as ultra-high-efficiency tandem solar cells and solar glass, as well as set domestic and international standards and certification systems to form initial markets.

Based on this, Seoul seeks to pull off the world's first commercial use of such technology over the next five years to gain world-leading efficiency levels of 35% for tandem cells and 28% for modules.

aisylu@korea.kr