The fund targets an annual yield of more than 7.0 percent after the deduction of a 0.56 percent maintenance fee, the ministry said. The Bank of Korea's benchmark overnight call rate stands at 4.5 percent. The ministry, welcoming the fund, said it would support South Korea's aim to raise clean and renewable energy usage to 5 percent by 2011 from the current 2.3 percent.
The ministry said the fund will be used mostly to promote building solar power plant facilities. Earlier this month, South Korea's Dongyang Engineering and Construction and Germany's SunTechnics said they would build a 20-megawatt solar plant in South Korea by 2008 worth 157.6 billion won.
South Korea, whose economy is the world's 11th-largest, is reliant on heavily energy-consuming manufacturing sectors such as steel and petrochemicals and ranks 10th in the world for greenhouse gas emissions.