A Governance Structure Based on an Opinion Analysis of Local Stakeholders of Saemangeum Floating Photovoltaic Power Plants Project: Using Text Mining for Each Subject

Abstract

Background and objective: As the use of renewable energy is expanding worldwide, conflicts are emerging in local communities due to environmental damage and competition for land use with existing industries, including agriculture and fishery. Accordingly, while many studies are trying to find alternatives to address such conflicts, studies on governance to implement these alternatives are insufficient. This study attempted to find options for the contentious field of renewable energy using text mining for each subject, and to suggest a direction for building governance to apply this in practice.Methods: Text mining for each subject was conducted targeting the Saemangeum floating photovoltaic power plants (FPVs) project, a large-scale renewable energy project in Korea.Results: As a result of the analysis, three clusters (stakeholder groups) were identified. First, local public officials complied with the government plan, as well as environmental activists from relatively remote areas. Second, local environmental activists and fishermen insisted on ecological conservation. Third, members of the public-private council (PPC) were concerned about industrial transformation. All groups shared a common perception that it was a renewable energy project that benefited the local ecological environment and people.Conclusion: Based on this, local public officials will play a role in cooperating and arranging improvements in renewable energy projects, fishermen and local environmentalists will play a role in developing ecological environment-based renewable energy plans, and the PPC will play a role in seeking a direction for coexistence with the fishery and revitalizing the region. It was also possible to set the direction of governance to implement a project effectively. As such, establishing governance that is tailored to the area where a renewable energy zone is developed can be a starting point for managing local conflicts and operating a project efficiently.