"Using Power Directly from Power Plants"... Ulsan City Announces Distributed Energy Activation Strategy

Establishment of Implementation Plans for Each Activation Stage and Other 5 Major Tasks

Formation of the 'Bunsan Energy Specialized Area Designation Promotion Team'

A plan to revitalize the distributed energy industry, where companies requiring large amounts of electricity use power directly from power plants without going through Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), has been introduced for the first time in Ulsan City. Ulsan City is the first among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide to announce an implementation strategy.

On the 17th, Ulsan City announced that it will quickly respond to the enforcement of the ‘Special Act on the Revitalization of Distributed Energy,’ scheduled for June next year, by being the first in the country to announce the ‘Distributed Energy Revitalization Promotion Strategy’ and will actively launch revitalization projects.

The announcement ceremony, held at 3 p.m. at Lotte Hotel Ulsan, will be attended by about 100 people including Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan; Kim Ki-hwan, Chairman of the City Council; Kwon Myung-ho, Member of the National Assembly; Lee Ho-hyun, Director of Power Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Lee Yoon-chul, Chairman of Ulsan Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Lee Sang-hoon, Chairman of Korea Energy Agency; as well as officials from public institutions and local industries.

The event will proceed with the announcement of the Ulsan Distributed Energy Revitalization Promotion Strategy, the awarding of appointment letters to the Ulsan Distributed Energy Specialized Area Designation Promotion Team, and presentations on distributed energy-related topics.

The Ulsan Distributed Energy Revitalization Promotion Strategy consists of five key tasks: ▲establishing a roadmap for each activation phase ▲securing designation as a specialized area ▲promoting the construction of a support center ▲proposing the establishment of a distributed energy data center ▲and promoting the attraction of data center companies in the metropolitan area.

Ulsan City plans to commission research projects on the five key tasks of the promotion strategy and to concretize detailed projects through these efforts.

The ‘Ulsan Distributed Energy Specialized Area Designation Promotion Team’ is composed of 24 experts from industry, academia, and research sectors in the field of distributed energy, with the Deputy Mayor of Ulsan City for Economic Affairs serving as the team leader.

Over the next year, the promotion team will participate in planning research projects such as establishing the Ulsan distributed energy revitalization roadmap and will serve as the vanguard for securing the designation of the specialized area. This research project will be led by the Energy Technology Support Group of Ulsan Technopark.

In the thematic presentations, Ryu Jun-woo, CEO of Gridwiz, will present on the ‘Ulsan Industrial Complex-type Self-sufficient Platform,’ and Park Hyung-joon, representative patent attorney of Awon Patent Law Office, will present on the ‘Distributed Energy Intellectual Property (IP) Utilization Strategy.’

From the corporate sector, Lim Do-hyung, Director of Future Technology Convergence at Korea East-West Power, will present on the ‘Distributed Energy Revitalization Promotion Strategy,’ and Kang Hwa-gu, Senior Manager of Energy New Business at HD Hyundai Electric, will present on the ‘Energy Platform Business Plan.’

Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan City, said, “Ulsan is a prepared region to lead distributed energy based on renewable energies such as hydrogen, secondary batteries, and floating offshore wind power,” adding, “Starting with the designation as a specialized area, it will become easier for companies to invest in power plant construction, thereby revitalizing the distributed energy industry.”

Ulsan City played a leading role until the special act, which passed the National Assembly in May, was enacted. In February, at the ‘Central-Local Cooperation Meeting’ hosted by the President at Jeonbuk Provincial Office, Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom initiated public discussions on differentiated electricity rates by region and directly met with lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly to support the passage of the special act.

This law includes a regional electricity rate system and the ‘Distributed Energy Specialized Area’ system.

The specialized area applies special provisions allowing power producers to supply electricity directly to companies without going through KEPCO, making it easier to attract new industry companies such as secondary battery, semiconductor, and data center businesses that require large amounts of power.

Agenda for the Distributed Energy Activation Promotion Strategy Presentation.

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