LSIS Chairman Koo Ka-kyun

"LSIS, designating energy storage systems (ESS) as one of its core businesses, is stepping on the gas to explore North American smart energy markets,” LSIS Chairman Koo Ja-kyun said.

LSIS Chairman Koo made the remarks as he disclosed his ambitious plan on the ESS business at a plenary shareholder meeting in March.

LSIS has become the world’s first company to acquire the U.S. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certificate for a megawatt (MW)-class mass capacity ESS. LSIS’s feat has paved the way for the company to make an inroad into the U.S. ESS market, which has embarked on a policy of expanding new and renewable energies and introducing smart grid systems for its obsolete transmission networks. 

On April 4, LSIS announced the company’s acquisition of the UL certificate (YL 1741), a product safety standard that is vital for the advance of its 1 MW-class Power Conditioning System (PCS) into the U.S. electric power market. 

Although LSIS completed the development of its PCS product for the U.S. market, the company experienced some difficulties in obtaining a test evaluation facility. At the beginning of the year, however, LSIS submitted it for evaluation by a domestic organization and passed all 15 criteria, introducing maximum electric pressure charge and discharge of direction current, and stability of power generation, among others. 

With this success, LSIS completed preparations for its advancement into the North American markets by passing all 18 evaluations, including the exclusive operation test and harmonic frequency test, thus enabling it to meet the IEEE 1547 standard, which is essential for system linkage in North America. 

As a DC system, the PCS converts the power stored in batteries into alternating current (AC), and enables a stable link between the ESS and electric linkage through a two-way electric control system. Along with the battery, the PCS is the ESS’s core technology.  

The 1 MW ESS is a solution that links the electricity conversion stage in the electric linkage and maximizes the quality of electricity by adjusting the frequency rate before end users receive the supplied electricity. 

Since LSUS has been acknowledged for its “global class” technology competence, the company plans to fuel its advance into the world’s largest North American ESS markets, including the United States. 

In the U.S. market, investments in ESS for electric linkage are on the rise, largely because federal and state governments, in response to last year’s Paris Climate Conference, have moved toward the adoption of a modernized electricity network by expanding new renewable energy development aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and introducing smart grid technology.  

In particular, regarding the ESS for U.S. electric linkage, it seems likely that LSIS, armed with the UL certificate and its technology competence, will expand its share in the North American market as a result of the expected expansion of the PCS market from $275 million this year to some $4,868 billion by 2024 at an annual average increase of 45.8 percent.

A 1 MW-class ESS Power Conditioning System (PCS), produced by LSIS. (Photos:LSIS)