Busan Confirmed as Nation's First Distributed Energy Special Zone... 49.9 sq km in Gangseo Area

Designated as "New Industry Activation Type," Installation of Large-Scale Energy Storage Systems
Pursuing AI-Based Energy Management Efficiency, Ensuring Stable Power Supply

Busan has become the first city in the country to be designated as a "Distributed Energy Specialized Zone." An area of 49.9 square kilometers, including Gangseo-gu's Eco Delta City, has been confirmed as the special zone.

On November 5, the Busan Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) announced that Busan's designation as a "Distributed Energy Specialized Zone" was officially confirmed at the Energy Committee meeting, presided over by the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment.

The city applied for the designation of the distributed special zone to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (now the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment) in April. After a working-level committee in May, the candidates were narrowed down to seven municipalities-Busan, Ulsan, North Gyeongsang, Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, South Jeolla, and Jeju-out of 25 projects from 11 municipalities. At the Energy Committee meeting held on this day, four municipalities-Busan, South Jeolla, Gyeonggi, and Jeju-were confirmed as distributed special zones, while Ulsan, North Gyeongsang, and South Chungcheong were put on hold.

The distributed energy special zone system is designed to establish a "local production and consumption" energy system, where electricity is produced and consumed near the area of use. As one of the new government's national policy tasks, the special zones designated under the Special Act on the Promotion of Distributed Energy allow businesses to directly trade locally produced electricity without going through the power market.

Busan has been designated as the "New Industry Activation Type," one of the three types of distributed special zones (power demand attraction, supply resource attraction, and new industry activation). The city will focus on the installation of large-scale energy storage systems (ESS) and the enhancement of energy management efficiency using artificial intelligence (AI) as its core tasks.

The distributed special zone covers a total of 49.9 square kilometers (15.11 million pyeong), including Eco Delta City, Myeongji District, and six industrial complexes in the Gangseo area (Myeongji-Noksan, Mieum, Shinho, Hwajeon, Saenggok, and International Logistics City). The centerpiece of this project, the energy storage system (ESS), uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to store electricity generated and supply it as needed, thereby improving both grid stability and energy price competitiveness.

In addition, by integrating the ESS with an energy management system (EMS) and an AI-based smart grid, Busan plans to optimize supply and demand in real time and establish a future-oriented energy model.

With the designation of the distributed special zone, Busan expects to achieve a variety of benefits, including: ▲ reduction of electricity costs for industries ▲ reduction of power facility investment costs ▲ alleviation of renewable energy output restrictions ▲ and promotion of corporate attraction.

With the installation of ESS facilities totaling 500 megawatt-hours (MWh), companies are expected to reduce their electricity bills by up to 8% by charging during off-peak nighttime hours and using the stored power during peak times. Citywide, this is expected to result in annual savings of 15.7 billion won.

For advanced industries such as semiconductors and data centers, building individual facilities for uninterrupted power supply requires significant investment. However, by utilizing the ESS subscription service within the distributed special zone, it is expected that about 250 billion won in facility investment costs can be saved.

By using large-scale ESS to adjust the oversupply and undersupply of renewable energy, output restrictions can be eased, leading to an additional annual cost saving of 4.4 billion won. The total power storage capacity of 500 megawatt-hours (MWh) is equivalent to the daily usage of approximately 42,000 households or the operation of five advanced data centers, thus providing a stable and affordable power supply base that will help attract businesses to the region.

Mayor Park Hyungjoon stated, "Being the first in the country to be designated as a distributed energy specialized zone will be a turning point, not only for stable power supply but also for enhancing Busan's industrial and urban competitiveness." He added, "We will develop Busan into a global hub city for eco-friendly energy, achieving energy self-sufficiency and carbon neutrality."

Busan City Hall.

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