MOTIE to promote a Special Act on Distributed Energy
On the 4th of May, Il-jun park, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) visited GridWiz, an energy solution startup. Virtual Power Plant (VPP), into which GridWiz is planning its business entry, is a new type of power plant designed to ensure a more secure supply of electric power to demand areas by managing and controlling small-scaled distributed power more stably. This power plant is expected to play a critical role in the revitalization of distributed energy. Meanwhile, MOTIE plans to promote a ‘Special Act on Facilitation of Distributed Energy,’ which stipulates the legal basis for the distributed energy VPP projects. The Ministry will also support R&D not only by establishing a cooperative system between VPP operators and power system operators, but also by developing market regulations for the VPP operators to participate in the power market. Il-Jun Park stressed the importance of VPPs which effectively control and integrate small-scale distributed energy and made it clear that the government would make efforts to enact the ‘Special Act on Facilitation of Distributed Energy’ during the first half of this year.
'10th Long-Term Plan of Transmission and Transformation Facilities' finalized
According to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), the ‘10th Long-Term Plan of Electric Power Transmission and Transformation Facilities’ has been finalized on the 8th of May, following the deliberation by the Electricity Regulatory Commission under the Ministry of the Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). In Korea, transmission and transformation facilities needed for 15 years have to be planned every two years in accordance with the Electricity Business Act. This 10th long-term plan was established with the goal of constructing a stable power system to secure national energy security, on the basis of electricity supply and demand outlook and expansion standards of electric power transmission and transformation facilities of the ‘10th Basic Plan on Electricity Supply and Demand.’ Unter this long-term plan, KEPCO introduced a facility plan based on a seasonal and time-specific scenario to build a flexible and stable power grid. Furthermore, KEPCO plans to set up an efficient power system by expanding new technologies and None-Wire Alternatives (NWAs) that can maximize the use of existing power facilities. KEPCO will continuously review the properness of this long-term plan and prepare specific measures by collecting opinions from individual stakeholders.
MOTIE announces 'Hydrogen Safety Management Roadmap 2.0'
On the 9th of May, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) presented the ‘Hydrogen Safety Management Roadmap 2.0,’ a blueprint for fostering a hydrogen industry centered on clean hydrogen. The government has been recently announcing new policy directions for the hydrogen economy including plans to create a clean hydrogen ecosystem and strategies to foster world’s No.1 hydrogen industry. Against this backdrop, it is necessary for safety standards and safety management of new hydrogen products and facilities to be developed so that the new hydrogen economy policies can be steadily implemented. The key tasks of this Roadmap are as follows:
- Development of preemptive safety standards for creation of clean hydrogen ecosystem
- Promotion of regulatory innovation to foster world's No.1 hydrogen industry
- Reinforcement of safety management capabilities for a balanced development of safety and industry
Meanwhile, MOTIE plans to organize and operate a ‘Hydrogen Regulatory Innovation Private Council’ to examine the implementation status of detailed tasks of the Roadmap and to continuously discover requests of companies for regulatory improvement. Il-jun Park, 2nd Vice Minister of MOTIE, announced that regulations would be improved to suit the characteristics of the new hydrogen industry through this Roadmap so that companies can actively promote hydrogen business. He further added that the government would make efforts for Korea to leap forward as a leading country in the hydrogen industry by strengthening safety management of large-scale hydrogen facilities.
Yours sincerely,
KGCCI
Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Korea)
8th Fl., Shinwon Plaza, 85, Dokseodang-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 04419, Republic of Korea
Tel.: +82-2-3780-4600
Fax: +82-2-3780-4637
