<p>Energy transition has played a core role in addressing environmental issues in recent generations. Continuous fossil&#xa0;fuel consumption has caused a large amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, which is a primary reason for climate change. Many countries argue that renewable energy can become a bridge to reach a low-carbon energy economy; however, its ability varies depending on geographical features. Particularly, although the Republic of Korea aims for a low-carbon energy economy by utilizing renewable electricity, it is geographically limited to installing large renewable energy farms; thus, new strategies for low-carbon energy resources are essential to reflect Korea’s regional characteristics. Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea has a large capacity of wind farms, but their power generation is often stopped due to oversupply than demand, resulting in frequent curtailment and substantial excessive energy. In line with this situation, a new idea on domestic surplus utilization emerges to overcome both the energy losses on Jeju Island and clean energy needs in Korean land. This research analyzes the strategy of surplus-to-X-to-electricity on domestic surplus utilization in the environmental and economic aspects. Clean H₂ is produced via water electrolysis using surplus electricity on Jeju Island and then transported to Korean land in the form of H₂ carriers. After being imported into land, they are consumed for power generation through a fuel cell system. Throughout its overall phases, its economic and environmental feasibility is explored based on diverse scenarios of H₂ carrier forms and transportation distances. As a result, given that governmental incentives regarding the environment and clean energy are applied, an NH₃-based strategy can become feasible in both economic and environmental criteria.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>