Vice Minister Woo Tae-hee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) makes an inspection tour of the Korea Power Exchange.

The government plans to spend 1.4 trillion won with the goal of supplying advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to 22 million households by 2020.

Vice Minister Woo Tae-hee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) toured the Korea Power Exchange, Korea Electric Power Corp., and AMI companies in succession on March 8. His inspection tour was designed to look into the movements of the electricity supply-demand situation and lend an ear to voices on the grievances and complaints that companies experience, taking stock of the current status and plans of investments into new energy industries. 

During his visit, Vice Minister Woo urged KEPCO and other power companies to front-load investment plans they announced earlier this year as soon as possible to reinvigorate the national economy and spread the development of new energy industries. In its New Year report on the 2017 business plan, KEPCO said it will invest 15 trillion won to prop up the national economy and have its power subsidiaries create a combined 3,160 jobs.

AMI is considered a key part of the new energy industry since the device is an electronic metering system designed to confirm hour-by-hour electricity rates via interactive communications between power suppliers and consumers based on ICT. 

During the meeting, Vice Minister Woo disclosed a plan to supply AMI meters to 22 million households by 2020, including 4.5 million household benefiters for this year by investing 1.4 trillion won by 2020. He also called for the aggressive development of convergence services linked to the creating of such businesses as demand management via smart meters, the providing of information to consumers, and IoT technologies.

While touring the KPX, Vice Minister Woo said, “Despite last winter’s highest-ever electricity demand of 83.66 million kW, we’ve managed to ensure a stable supply.” 

He asked for thorough demand management as spring is expected to see stable power demand and supply, while many power units are going to undergo maintenance to brace for high peaks during summer. 

In particular, he urged utilities companies to conduct a thorough inspection into a surge in demand in the belated cold temperatures in March and high temperatures in early summer and brace for supply interruptions, caused by glitches of electricity facilities. He also told them to ensure the flawless operation of power supply systems to brace for such future energy environment changes as the spreading of new/renewal energies, EV and energy storage systems and have staffs of the KPX, a control tower of the electricity industry, armed with advanced expertise and knowledge.

MOTIE Vice Minister Woo tours Nuritel in Naju. (Photos: MOTIE)