South Chungcheong Province launches task force to attract integrated headquarters of state power firms

South Chungcheong Province has launched a task force to attract the integrated headquarters of state-owned power companies to its western coast — once the heart of the nation's coal-fired power generation — and has begun full operations.

The province held the first meeting of the task force Wednesday at the provincial government building, with Hong Jong-wan, the administrative vice governor and task force head, presiding. About 30 people attended, including officials from Boryeong, Dangjin and Taean, as well as policy advisers.

The task force will operate across five areas — logic development, trend analysis, external cooperation, municipal cooperation and policy advisory — and plans to carry out a comprehensive role ranging from analyzing the direction of consolidation to building an overwhelming case to persuade the central government.

The province said it intends to use the task force's launch as a springboard to present the South Chungcheong western coast as a "perfectly prepared, optimal site" to lead the national energy transition.

South Chungcheong Province holds a total power generation capacity of 27,464 megawatts, accounting for 18 percent of the national total, making it the top power-producing region in the country and the backbone of national electricity supply. Nearly half of the nation's 60 coal-fired power plants — 28 in all — are concentrated there, making it the area where a "just transition" in the regional, labor and asset sectors following plant closures is most urgently needed nationwide.

Regarding this, the province has consistently put forward a firm vision of converting its power infrastructure to carbon-free generation and positioning itself as a renewable energy hub for South Korea, in conjunction with the special act supporting coal power plant workers and communities affected by plant closures.

Since the launch of the ninth elected provincial administration, the province has pursued wide-ranging efforts to attract the integrated headquarters, including requesting meetings with the chair and ruling party floor leader of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, the minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, and the prime minister, as well as issuing a joint statement by Assembly members.

Hong urged working-level departments to maintain close coordination among the province, municipalities and experts, starting with Wednesday's task force meeting. "Please immediately begin developing a more sophisticated and persuasive case," he said.

He added that the national energy transition must not remain at the level of compensating for past damages. "The South Chungcheong western coast must be at the center of it, and we will objectively prove to the government that it is more perfectly prepared than anywhere else, and succeed in attracting the headquarters," he said.