KEPCO investing over $7 billion in smart grid

South Korea Smart Grid Investment accelerates grid modernization, smart meters, and renewable integration, upgrading transmission and distribution with sensors and controls to cut emissions, raise efficiency, and build a digital electricity market by 2030.

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp KEPCO said it would invest 8 trillion won US $7.18 billion in its smart grid business by 2030 to cut carbon emissions and boost the efficiency of electricity facilities.

Of the total investment 400 billion won per year will be spent in the next five years, 2.3 trillion won through 2020 and the remainder through 2030 to upgrade power transmission and distribution systems and switch meters to help curb power theft losses, the company said in a statement.

South Korea said in early 2010 that it aimed for spending of 27.5 trillion won over the next two decades on smart grids, as the smart grid market grows globally, to make electricity distribution more efficient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save $26 billion in energy imports.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's fastest-growing carbon polluter and the world's No.5 oil importer wants to create a nationwide smart grid by 2030, reflecting broader Asia smart grid spending trends for an electricity market worth 68 trillion won.

In a smart grid, computers and sensors installed at power plants, substations and along power lines signal control centers that better manage the flow of electricity, as seen in China smart grid rollout progress worldwide.

KEPCO added the investment would help it lift the proportion of power nationwide drawn from renewable sources, amid a grid transition for renewables globally, including solar and wind power, to 11 percent, and to target overseas markets with related technology.

Related News

• Electricity Forum News

• Grid Technologies News