S. Korea's green energy exports top $4.5 bln in 2010

SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's clean, renewable energy sector has grown significantly over the last three years with both its sales and exports jumping roughly seven fold, the government said Monday.
Sales of so-called green industrial goods came to 8.08 trillion won (about US$7.57 billion) last year, up 6.5-fold from 1.25 trillion won in 2007 when the incumbent administration came into office, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
The eco-friendly industrial sector has grown rapidly since the Lee Myung-bak administration declared green growth as a new national goal in 2008, it claimed.
Since 2007, the country's exports in the green and renewable energy sector jumped more than seven times from $625 million to $4.54 billion.
"Since the government's declaration on low-carbon, green growth (on Aug. 15, 2008), new and renewable energy is becoming the key component of the country's green growth policy due to active efforts by the government, investment by businesses and a change in the view of our people," the ministry said in a press release.
South Koreans are using more renewable energy, as well.
The amount of energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power plants, increased 17.6 percent from 5.61 million tons of oil equivalents (TOEs) in 2007 to 6.6 million TOEs last year.
Over 30,000 jobs are estimated to have been created in the process, the ministry said.
The renewable energy sector will further grow as South Korea is soon expected to launch a project, worth over 9 trillion won, to build its largest offshore wind farm in the Yellow Sea with 500 five-megawatt turbines by 2019.
The envisioned project was first announced last year and is expected to be finalized and officially launched before the end of September.