ESS Power Generation Operators Begin Direct Electricity Trading Pilot Project

Demonstration of Gwangju Green Energy ESS Power Generation in Regulatory Free Zone
Changing the Electricity Market System Based on Market Principles Through Competition

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) and Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Ki-jung) announced on the 14th that they held a power transmission ceremony for the demonstration of direct power trading by large-capacity Energy Storage System (ESS) power producers for the first time in Korea at the Gwangju Green Energy ESS Power Generation Regulatory Free Zone.

The Gwangju Green Energy ESS Power Generation Zone was designated in November 2020 with special exceptions regarding the status of ESS power producers and direct power trading, allowing power producers who have built large-capacity ESS to sell directly to consumers, moving away from the existing urban-type solar power model where most of the power generated is traded through Korea Electric Power Corporation. Since the power transmission ceremony, ESS power producers have been actively conducting demonstrations to develop operational technologies and power trading systems for direct power trading.

Through the results of this direct power trading demonstration, it is expected that a commercialization model of a 'distributed resource brokerage market,' where small-scale renewable energy producers aggregate electricity produced from distributed resources and sell it to the power market, will emerge. Accordingly, it is anticipated that the activation of the distributed resource brokerage operator system, the expansion of solar power and energy storage systems, and the establishment of a power market system based on market principles through increased competition in the power sales market will be possible.

Kwon Hye-rin, head of the Regulatory Free Zone Planning Team at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We hope that the results of this demonstration will serve as a catalyst for deregulation in the power trading sector and a new growth engine in the distributed energy industry," adding, "It will also help promote commercialization for the growth of participating companies."

Gwangju Green Energy ESS Power Generation Special Zone Electricity Trading Promotion System Diagram

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