South Korea faces renewable energy safety concerns

A string of accidents at renewable energy sites in South Korea has sharpened public concern over safety just as lawmakers moved to relax regulations governing how close such facilities can be built to homes and roads. According to The Chosun Daily, the National Assembly passed amendments on February 12 that significantly reduce “setback distance” protections even while incidents have occurred with alarming frequency.

According to The Chosun Daily, this deregulation comes at a time when there is greater concern, coming after a number of mechanical issues and fires. In February alone, the country experienced a series of concerning incidents. On February 2, a large wind turbine fell onto a road in Yeongdeok, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Tragedy was only avoided as the road was empty when the incident happened. Just over a week later, on February 10, a turbine blade caught fire in Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, requiring a large-scale emergency response involving 82 emergency workers and seven aircraft. The month ended with a difficult 18-hour fight against a fire at a solar storage facility in Taebaek, Gangwon-do, on February 19. The fire was caused by thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries at the site, which led to repeated explosions that frightened the local community and made headlines.

Despite these accidents, the National Assembly amended the Act on the Promotion of the Development, Utilisation, and Distribution of New and Renewable Energy on February 12, curtailing local governments’ ability to set their own buffer distance rules. The revisions brought to bear concentrate authority with the central government, which proposes upper limits on distances from homes and roads, but no mandatory minimum separation itself.

An official from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said local regulations were varied and in some cases “excessive”, creating hurdles for renewable energy developers. The government argues that standardised, relaxed setbacks will help accelerate deployment.

Cultural heritage sites and ecological conservation areas for now at least will continue to be preserved as the revised law will come into effect after a period of six months. At present, only 60 out of the 228 local governments around the country have setback ordinances in place, with the required distances varying from between 100m and 2km from roads, and between 200m and 2km from residential areas.Central government proposals would cap distances at around 200–300m, a significant loosening compared to the much stricter rules some jurisdictions currently have in place.

The 100GW target

According to The Chosun Daily, the change in policy occurs as President Lee Jae Myung's government is working toward reaching 100 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by the year 2030. Achieving that goal would mean installing solar panels equivalent to 20 football pitches in size every day or building nine 4-MW wind turbines every single day for a period of five years.

Meanwhile, the number of accidents are rising. Wind turbine incidents occurred three times in 2025, and three have already been recorded in the first two months of 2026. The number of fires at solar plants rose from 19 in 2022 to 36 the previous year, and so far this year, six such incidents have been reported. The government also intends to construct 85 energy storage systems across the country by the year 2030.

Concerns also extend to ageing infrastructure. All 81 wind turbines installed before 2006 are situated in areas that do not have setback regulations, which includes the Yeongdeok unit that experienced a recent collapse. However, newer installations have also failed. A turbine in Uiseong that fell in April last year was less than two years old, and another turbine in Jeongseon, which was the site of an accident in January 2023, only started operating in 2018.

International context and policy debate

Government officials in favour of the change argue that other countries are also easing siting restrictions to help accelerate decarbonisation efforts. Yet experts caution that comparisons must account for geography and population density. In Bavaria, Germany, authorities apply the so-called 10H rule, requiring turbines to be placed at a distance equal to ten times their height, typically around 1km to 2km from homes. The UK and France mandate detailed assessments of noise and low frequency effects before granting approval, ensuring a degree of community consent, albeit not one everyone agrees to.

According to The Chosun Daily, professor Park Ju Heon of Dongduk Women’s University warned that as renewable installations move closer to residential zones, the potential impact radius of any accident widens. He said that a more measured approach is needed before intensifying the pace of construction.

Setback regulations are designed to maintain minimum separation between renewable energy facilities and nearby dwellings, roads or national heritage assets. Under the revised framework, such distances will generally no longer be required except in designated protected areas, with centralised caps, thereby preventing local authorities from imposing broader buffers.