Jungbu Power Enters US ESS-Based Virtual Power Plant Market

Korea Midland Power and SK E&S signed a contract on the 16th to jointly promote the 'U.S. ESS-based VPP project' and are seen taking a commemorative photo. On the left is Park Hyung-gu, President of Korea Midland Power, and on the right is Yoo Jung-joon, President of SK E&S. (Photo by Korea Midland Power)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Korea Midland Power Co. announced on the 16th that it will enter the U.S. energy storage system (ESS)-based virtual power plant (VPP) market in partnership with SK E&S.

On the same day, Midland Power completed a contract with SK E&S to jointly carry out the U.S. ESS project and officially began business operations.

This is the first case among power group companies to operate a VPP business in the United States.

A VPP refers to a system that operates like a single power plant by connecting and controlling various distributed energy resources using information technology (IT) and artificial intelligence (AI)-based automatic control technology.

The project promoted by Midland Power involves building a 62MW/346MWh scale ESS distributed power facility in the Los Angeles area of California, U.S., and efficiently utilizing it by analyzing and predicting power demand and supply characteristics based on AI.

According to Midland Power, Los Angeles is one of the regions in California with high power demand and severe transmission congestion, yet it is difficult to introduce new power sources due to various complaints and regulations.

Due to these constraints, efficiently utilizing power with existing infrastructure is considered an important task.

A Midland Power official explained, "Various fire suppression technologies and fire monitoring devices have been applied to the ESS facilities used in this project, and some domestically produced batteries were also applied to enhance safety."

Park Hyung-gu, President of Midland Power, said, "This project is a meaningful first step to strategically prepare for the rapidly growing ESS market in the future," adding, "We will successfully operate the project in California, which leads the energy transition, and further expand the ESS business in the global market."

Overview of distributed ESS facilities installed in commercial buildings and universities in the LA area. (Photo by Korea Midland Power)

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