South Korea, which aims to go carbon neutral by 2050, will expand its smart water management by installing floating solar farms near dams and applying hydrothermal energy technologies to data centers.

The Ministry of Environment said Friday that it will conduct six water management projects reflecting discussion results on carbon-neutral water management for climate resilience at the P4G Seoul Summit held last month.

As part of the projects, the government will begin the construction of eight floating solar farms worth 147.4 megawatts at five dams by 2023 and expand the size to 2.1 gigawatts by 2030.

Also, the government will establish a hydrothermal energy industrial complex in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, by 2027 that runs 100 percent on renewable energy. The industrial complex will host data centers, which will source water from dams to cool off their facilities.

To ensure the safety of dams, the government will establish a real-time monitoring system, drone-based safety check system and a digital twin platform for 37 dams nationwide by 2025.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)