-Converted to Gijang plant demonstration center
-Actively attracting high-tech companies in the future
-To find the industrial water supply plan again
The seawater desalination facility in Gijang in Busan, which turned into an’Aemul Complex worth 190 billion won’ as the supply of tap water was lost, has found a new way of life as a demonstration facility for water industry research. However, there are still concerns about securing new places of use, as only a part of large-scale facilities are used, and Busan City has to pay part of the annual management cost of hundreds of millions of won.
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| Gijang-gun seawater desalination plant. International Newspaper DB |
Busan City announced on the 7th that it recently signed a working agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) to use the Gijang seawater desalination facility as a decentralized demonstration center. In the Daegu National Water Industry Cluster, seawater desalination research projects that could not be carried out due to geographic limitations are distributed to the millet facilities.
The city and K-water plan to establish a roadmap for the design of decentralized demonstration facilities within the year and apply for the relevant budget to the Ministry of Environment. It is expected that if the research facility construction begins in 2022, it will be operational from the following year. Currently, the city, the Ministry of Environment, and K-water are known to be considering R&D projects related to industrial water using seawater freshwater.
Of the total capacity of 45,000㎥, only 9000㎥ capacity will be used for the demonstration center. Since it is a large-scale facility built for the purpose of supplying drinking water, finding ways to use the remaining facilities remains a task. The city plans to attract and supply high-tech industries that require industrial water such as reverse osmosis treated water (RO water) or pure water, which have higher water quality standards than tap water.
The Gijang seawater desalination facility started in 2006 as a government research project and was completed in August 2014 with a cost of 190 billion won including research and project expenses. However, after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, residents’ anxiety about radioactive materials grew, and in December 2015, before the supply of tap water, it was held indefinitely against residents.
Since then, they have searched for ways to use them from various angles to supply industrial water, but the business has drifted until recently due to low demand and high production costs due to low economic feasibility. Until now, it has been pointed out that the city is wasting blood tax by spending 1 billion won per year only on facility maintenance.
Byeon Seong-wan, acting mayor of Busan, said, “We plan to actively operate as a seawater desalination and ultrapure water R&D test bed to foster the water industry in the country and region.” I will use it as a foothold for children.”
Reporter Choi Seung-hee