Compensation for Losses at ESS Sites Established Under Government Recommendation Starting from the 23rd

Ministry of Industry Confirms Criteria and Schedule for Compensation of Production Halt Losses

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Business operators who suffered losses after installing energy storage systems (ESS) at the government's request will be able to receive compensation starting from the 23rd.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that a compensation plan for losses related to ESS units that were shut down following government recommendations since January last year has been finalized.

The compensation targets are ▲ ESS installed in multi-use facilities ▲ ESS operating in factories or other sites that are not installed in 'separate dedicated buildings' and have ceased operation upon the government's request for shutdown cooperation.

However, ▲ businesses that resumed operation without implementing common and additional safety measures ▲ businesses that fail to complete safety measures by the end of this year are excluded. Also, if the battery manufacturer has already compensated for losses, those cases are excluded from this compensation.

Considering the time required for safety measures, businesses that have suspended operations for at least one month are included in the compensation target.

According to the 'ESS Safety Enhancement Measures' announced by the Ministry following the '1st ESS Fire Investigation Committee' report on June 11 last year, compensation will be divided into demand management ESS and renewable energy-linked ESS.

Demand management ESS will be supported through Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) by negotiating the rollover of discounted electricity rates with KEPCO.

Renewable energy-linked ESS will receive additional Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) weighting from the Korea Energy Agency.

The Energy Agency will confirm the additional REC issuance period for each applying business and issue additional RECs by reflecting the calculated weighting on the ESS discharge amount during that period. The calculated weighting is the ESS weighting minus the solar or wind weighting.

On this day, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy did not disclose the exact number of eligible businesses for compensation or their regional distribution data, as it needs to verify the consistency between applicants' submitted documents and data held by KEPCO and the Energy Agency.

In this regard, the Ministry plans to hold an industry briefing session at 3 p.m. on the 19th at the Payto Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul. KEPCO and the Energy Agency will accept applications for compensation of shutdown losses from the 23rd until the 4th of next month and plan to implement the compensation starting next year.

Previously, on December 17, 2018, the Ministry recommended the suspension of operation for 584 out of 1,253 ESS facilities installed nationwide that had not yet undergone detailed safety inspections.

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