[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s exports of clean, renewable energy products have sharply increased in the first seven months of the year, the Trade Ministry said on Sept. 5.

Outbound shipments of solar panels and other related equipment came to US$2.01 billion in the January-July period, jumping 46.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the ministry.

Exports of energy storage systems have also reached $163 million in the seven-month period, accounting for 87 percent of the total for the entire 2015 fiscal year.

Growing demands for clean and renewable energy were also apparent in the local market, whose solar power capacity increased by 1 gigawatt in 2015 alone, making it the world’s seventh-largest market for solar energy with an overall capacity of 3.5 gigawatts, according to the ministry.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)