Interior ministry receives 617 applications for Solar Income Village program

The interior ministry said Monday that 617 villages had applied for the second call for its Solar Income Village program, after officials extended the preparation period and added project-development support nationwide.

The total was more than four times the 129 applicants in the first call, when the Ministry of the Interior and Safety selected 86 villages for a program in which residents directly participate in solar power projects and return proceeds to communities and residents.

The ministry attributed the increase to a preparation period of about four months, up from two months in the first call, and to support including site identification by a public-private team, regional briefings, village education and project consulting. The second call closed July 31. Applicants came from 12 cities and provinces and 116 cities and counties.

Nine of the first-round selections were judged ready to proceed quickly after forming cooperatives and securing sites and funding plans. The remaining 77 were conditionally selected while they complete matters including site leases, funding plans or grid connections. Another 34 villages were advised to apply in a later round, while nine withdrew because of village circumstances.

In addition to financing, the ministry will guide selected villages through follow-up procedures including power-generation permits and help unselected villages address gaps in their preparations.

In Sangpan-ri in Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, the defense ministry provided unused land that had been the source of conflict over a military firing range. Gapyeong County prepared a plan to draw on a local-population-decline response fund.

"The 86 Solar Income Villages selected in the first call are expected to become a stepping stone for nationwide expansion," Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung said.

Second-call results will be announced through local governments by Sept. 30. The ministry is considering an additional call later this year and aims to identify 700 villages in 2026.