North Korea to Thwart Western Energy Embargo with $2.5 Billion Solar Power Station - Reports

The North Korean government is reportedly planning the construction of a $2.5 billion solar energy plant in an effort to reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels, and in an attempt to curb energy shortages which have become a major issue in the country since 2017. While North Korea has an advanced solar energy industry of its own, it has sought Chinese investment and technological assistance in developing the massive new solar plant. Access to mines for valuable rare earths has reportedly been offered as compensation to foreign firms investing in the plant, which will generate in excess of 2.5 million kilowatts of electricity daily. Developing a new power plant would seriously undermine the effects of Western drafted sanctions resolutions, imposed both unilaterally and through the United Nations, which have seriously restricted all of the country’s major exports and capped annual fuel exports to the East Asian state. With negotiations with the United States for the partial lifting of sanctions stalling apparently indefinitely, Pyongyang has given Washington a deadline of January 2020 to return to the negotiating table with more reasonable terms - threatening to resume testing of strategic weapons should there be no progress on this front. As the U.S. has yet to offer any significant concessions, and the sanctions regime could potentially drag on indefinitely as a result, an investment in new power generation capabilities could be a key asset to North Korea’s economy and its energy security.