President Chung Seung-il of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) gives his inaugural speech at an inauguration ceremony at KEPCO headquarters in Naju, Jeollanam-do, on June 1. (Photos: KEPCO)

New President Chung Seung-il of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said, “Starting today, we at KEPCO will ponder how to be reborn into the world’s best energy platform company to lead the ecosystem of the power industry and put them into practice.”

President Chung made the remarks as he took office at an inauguration ceremony at KEPCO headquarters in Naju, Jeollanam-do.

“The paradigm of the energy sector at a carbon neutrality era will sum up decarbonization and decentralization and being intelligent, and we need to focus on these three trends,” he said.

Chung pointed out that the whole sector of the power industry, ranging from power production and consumption to power transmission & distribution, shows trends of decarbonization.

As it comes to decarbonization for one side, it is a dramatic shift in an energy mix and a power generation mix, and on the other side, it is about a war with efficiency, he added.

“So far, an energy mix has been considered in acceptance, safety and economics perspective, but from now on, all possible options need to be pondered in a carbon emission perspective,” President Chung said.

He suggested tasks such as the building of optimized power transmission and distribution systems and the improving of efficiency of the full cycles of power production, transportation and consumption.

Chung stressed the need to focus on the decentralization of power production and consumption.

Demand for decentralized power sources has been rising so far, but institutional compensation based on the benefits of decentralized power sources is insignificant, he said.

From now on, he said, KEPCO, government and related organizations will have to encourage spreading power demand to districts, as well as working out incentives to spread power production and a charging regime using power transmission.

It also needs to work on distribution networks, and make preparations for the restructuring of the power industry and the introduction of virtual power plants.

As for making the value chain and the whole ecosystem of the industry “intelligent,” Chung said, KEPCO will have to aggressively pursue service innovation and develop solutions based on Data, Network and Artificial intelligence (D.N.A.).

With the utilizations of smart meters, a variety of charging systems need to be introduced, he added.

President Chung passed the 33rd Higher Civil Service Examination in 1989 and held key positions of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), including director general for the energy industry and head of the international trade and investment team, director-general in charge of FTA and deputy minister in charge of trade and investment. He moved to president of Korea Gas Corp. before coming back to MOTIE vice minister.

A website view of the energy marketplace EN:TER, an open energy platform in which KEPCO inaugurated a renewable energy transaction service.

Renewable Energy Transaction Service Makes Debut at Energy Marketplace ‘EN:TER’

KEPCO has inaugurated a renewable energy transaction service at its energy marketplace EN:TER, an open energy platform.

The renewable energy transaction service consists of the “My Power Plant Service” and the “Green Premium Bidding Service.”

The My Power Plant Service is designed to serve power generators with less than 1-megawatt capacity and non-utility generation clients who sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) with KEPCO.

The Green Premium Bidding Service is designed to allow KEPCO customers to participate in the green premium system through bidding.