Governor Wee meets with committee chair on the 20th
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province will propose to the National Assembly the connection of the Chuja offshore wind power project to the national power grid and the exemption of energy storage system (ESS) grid usage fees. The province will also request relief from the burden of regional differential industrial electricity rates and expanded financial support for the transition to electric vehicles.
According to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province on the 20th, a field visit delegation from the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, led by Chair Kim Jeong-ho, will inspect eight climate and energy-related facilities in Jeju over two days from the 20th to the 21st. The on-site visit, coordinated with the state audit, will confirm the operational status of power generation facilities and hear about matters requiring institutional improvements.
Governor Wee Sung-gon plans to hold a meeting with National Assembly members from the delegation at around 3 p.m. on the 20th at Energy Nuri Madang in Haengwon-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju City. Vice Governor Lee Chang-heum of Jeju Province will explain the current status of climate and energy policy initiatives in Jeju and key proposals.
ESS grid usage fee exemption and electricity rate burden relief
The core proposal is to reflect the Chuja offshore wind power project in the 12th Basic Plan on Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand and to pursue national-level power grid connection. The Basic Plan on Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand is a medium to long-term plan in which the government determines the electricity demand needed in the future, power generation facilities, and the direction of transmission network expansion. The 12th plan is currently undergoing preparation procedures for the period from 2026 to 2040.
Jeju Province also requests exemption of grid usage fees for ESS connected to the distribution network. ESS stores electricity when supply exceeds demand and supplies it during peak demand hours. In situations where renewable energy generation varies depending on weather conditions, ESS plays a role in regulating power supply and demand. Jeju's proposal aims to reduce the power grid usage costs for such storage facilities.
Relief from the burden on Jeju due to the introduction of regional differential rates for industrial electricity is also a subject of the proposal. The request is to prepare support measures considering the impact on the regional industrial sector from changes in the rate system that differentiate charges based on power production and consumption locations.
Renewable energy facilities account for 55.9 percent
Jeju is a region where renewable energy facilities are rapidly increasing. As of August this year, the renewable energy capacity in the province was 1,283.1 megawatts, accounting for 55.9 percent of total power generation capacity. The proportion of renewable energy generation was calculated at 25.6 percent.
Electric vehicles numbered 50,718 units, accounting for 12.2 percent of registered vehicles in the province. Jeju is expanding renewable energy and electric vehicle supply with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, but it also faces policy challenges related to power grid stability, associated costs, and financial burdens from the transition to electric vehicles.
Eight facilities to be inspected through the 21st, including Hanlim offshore wind
The National Assembly delegation will visit eight locations including the Buchon Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) power plant, Doosan Wind Power Center, the Jeju Control Center which operates a virtual power plant (VPP), the Hanlim offshore wind farm, and the Gosan Atmospheric Monitoring Station. A virtual power plant is a system that connects dispersed power generation and storage facilities at multiple locations through information and communications technology and manages them as a single power plant.
The Hanlim offshore wind farm is a 100-megawatt offshore wind facility that was completed in December of last year. Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO), and Korea Electric Power Technology participated in the project, and residents from three nearby villages invested 30 billion won, which is 4.7 percent of the total project cost, through a cooperative. The project was designed with a structure to distribute a portion of power generation revenue to residents.
Green hydrogen production is also a major case in Jeju's energy transition project. Since September, a power purchase agreement (PPA) has been in effect supplying electricity produced from the Haengwon coastal wind power facility in Gujwa-eup to a nearby green hydrogen production facility. The project connects a 3-megawatt wind power facility with a 3.3-megawatt hydrogen production facility, utilizing renewable energy electricity for hydrogen production.
Jeju Province plans to connect the issues and proposals raised during this visit to follow-up consultations with relevant government ministries. Matters such as the power grid connection for Chuja offshore wind and ESS grid usage fee exemption require additional review of national power policy and related systems and are not measures to be finalized during this field visit.
Governor Wee Sung-gon said, "The challenges that Jeju faces in the supply of renewable energy and electric vehicles are problems that other regions with growing renewable energy will soon encounter. I request the National Assembly's interest and support so that the experience Jeju has accumulated first and the challenges confirmed in the field can lead to institutional improvements at the national level."
Original Korean article: Financial News
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
