4,000 Member Companies in 19 Years... Growth Based on Fairness and Transparency

KPX Reaches 4,000 Member Companies Era... "Will Strengthen Services"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] As of this month, the number of power trading members, which started in April 2001 with six power generation subsidiaries including Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Namdong, Nambu, Dongseo, Jungbu, and Seobu Power Generation, has surpassed 4,000 companies. This achievement came just one year after surpassing 3,000 companies in June last year, and is analyzed as rapid growth due to the full-scale launch of solar power generation projects.

According to the Korea Power Exchange on the 17th, on the 8th, Kyungnam No.1 Solar Power Plant Co., Ltd., which is promoting the construction of a 997kW solar power plant in Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do, joined as a new member company, pushing the number of power trading members beyond 4,000. This represents a 400-fold increase in 19 years.

Korea's power market has been established since 2001 based on the Electric Utility Act and is operated by the Korea Power Exchange with fairness and transparency. The number of power trading members is one of the most important indicators showing how active the power market is. The recent increase in members is attributed to the expansion of distributed and participatory energy systems in the 3rd Basic Energy Plan and government policies promoting renewable energy such as the Renewable Energy 3020 policy.

Among the 4,000 member companies trading in the power market, 3,868 companies, or 97%, are renewable energy power producers, with solar power producers accounting for 3,718 companies, or 96%, holding an absolute majority. The total registered capacity in the power market as of the 8th is 121,738 MW, a 2.5% increase compared to 118,718 MW as of the end of May last year. Of the increased capacity, newly registered solar power plants account for 1,013 MW, or 33% of the total. This is an overwhelming figure compared to increases in other renewable energies such as fuel cells at 158 MW, wind power at 143 MW, and bioenergy at 121 MW. This shows that participation of solar renewable energy producers in the power market is steadily increasing.

Looking at the regional distribution of solar power plants participating in power trading, Jeollanam-do has the highest share at about 19%, followed by Jeju, Jeonbuk, and Chungnam. The Korea Power Exchange recently completed improvements to the power trading system in response to the surge in small-scale renewable energy producers joining and actively reflected the opinions of producers that the membership registration process was complicated. Additionally, the membership registration process, which previously had nine steps, has been reduced to three steps, simplifying the procedure and shortening the time required for registration to enhance member convenience.

Lee Kang-jae, head of the Metering Registration Team at the Korea Power Exchange, said, "We will strengthen services further through proactive administrative support, related IT system improvements, and cooperation with relevant organizations so that renewable energy producers can trade power more conveniently."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.