Though its relatively small area and high population density make it a poor fit for most large-scale renewables projects, South Korea’s geographic and economic profile make it a prime candidate for a comprehensive smart grid and other low-carbon installations.

The smart grid will be principally funded by the private sector, with the government set to chip in just 2.7tr won over the next two decades. The government has already selected eight consortiums to build demonstration-scale grids, and says it expects 50,000 jobs related to the smart grid to be created in the coming years.

South Korea is hunting desperately for ways to trim its emissions growth and heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels while continuing to foster economic development.

Despite having just 48 million citizens and an area smaller than Iceland, it is already the world’s fifth largest importer of oil and has the fastest-growing carbon emissions in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Last year South Korea announced a wide-ranging green stimulus package in response to the financial crisis, pledging 50tr won to low-carbon projects by 2013, though only a tiny sliver will fund renewables installations.

One renewables sector where the country is blazing a trail is tidal energy, having completed its first tidal plant in 2009 and announced plans for several more along its tide-swept western coast. The 254MW Siwha tidal project, expected to be finished this year, will surpass France’s 240MW Rance tidal plant as the world’s largest.

On 16 January South Korean construction giant GS Engineering nabbed a $3.4bn contract with state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power to build another massive tidal project near Gangwha Island, 50km west of Seoul.

In addition the country is planning a 300MW turbine field in the Wando Hoenggan waterway, and has proposed a tidal barrage at Incheon expected to total more than 1 gigawatt.