Original Korean article: Energy Daily
A legal foundation has been established to more systematically build grid connection facilities jointly used by multiple renewable energy developers. This is expected to serve as an opportunity to reduce grid connection delays and redundant investment in individual connection facilities—both major obstacles to renewable energy expansion—and to efficiently connect large-scale offshore wind and solar power plants to the electricity network.
On the 20th, the National Assembly passed in plenary session of the 438th extraordinary session the "Partial Amendment to the Electric Power Source Development Promotion Act (Alternative)" proposed by the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee.
This amendment is follow-up legislation accompanying the establishment of "renewable energy joint connection facility construction business" and "renewable energy joint connection facility construction business operator" systems in the Electricity Business Act. The core of the amendment is to include renewable energy joint connection facility construction business operators within the scope of electricity business operators under the Electric Power Source Development Promotion Act, enabling them to directly carry out electricity business projects.
Shifting from Individual to Shared Infrastructure
On the surface, this is a relatively simple expansion of the scope of electricity business operators, but its actual significance lies in a change in how renewable energy grid connections are structured.
When multiple renewable energy projects concentrate in a particular region, the process of each operator building connection facilities can result in overlapping transmission lines and cost and land acquisition issues surrounding grid connection. Particularly for large-scale offshore wind projects, where multiple generation businesses must connect to the backbone network through offshore and onshore substations and transmission lines, the need for shared infrastructure construction is growing.
Once the amended law allows joint connection facility construction operators to carry out electricity business projects, the institutional foundation for building transmission and substation equipment used by multiple generation operators as a single project will be strengthened. Instead of each operator installing separate lines, shared connection networks can be utilized, reducing redundant investment and project cost burdens.
It can also help ease site issues arising in the power grid construction process. When transmission lines and substations are built separately for each project, the required land and facilities increase, and the potential for conflict with local residents and environmental or land damage also grows. Integrating joint connection facilities at appropriate scale creates more room for efficient deployment of transmission infrastructure.
Reorienting Policy Priorities
This amendment, coupled with the Electricity Business Act revision that passed the National Assembly on the same day, also signals a shift in policy focus from "expanding generation capacity" to "proactively building grid infrastructure" for renewable energy.
Even if solar and wind generation capacity is expanded, if the grid to receive the generated power is not built in time, it becomes difficult to translate into actual power supply. Going forward, renewable energy policy is expected to need to shift toward planning joint connection facilities, substations, and backbone transmission networks as a single system, rather than focusing solely on generation project permits and equipment distribution.
Challenges in Implementation
However, for the shared connection network system to actually resolve grid congestion, follow-up system design is critical. First, clear standards are needed on the basis by which generation operators will share the construction costs of shared facilities, and how costs will be settled when new operators additionally connect.
Determining appropriate capacity for shared connection facilities is also a challenge. If facilities are built based only on currently planned generation projects, problems may arise requiring expansion when additional renewable energy is added later. Conversely, if future demand is reflected too generously, initial investment burden and idle facility problems can occur, requiring proactive grid planning that reflects regional generation potential and project feasibility.
Coordination between Korea Electric Power's backbone transmission network expansion plan and shared connection facility construction plans is also important. Even if shared connection networks within and near generation complexes are completed, if the capacity of the upper-level transmission network to receive them is insufficient, grid bottlenecks can simply shift to another point.
This amendment to the Electric Power Source Development Promotion Act is significant in expanding renewable energy grid connection from an issue for individual generation operators to the realm of "shared infrastructure construction." If cost-sharing standards, usage principles for shared connection facilities, and coordination principles with backbone networks are carefully established going forward, it is expected to become an important institutional foundation for reducing grid connection delays and redundant transmission facility investment that have been repeated in the process of renewable energy expansion.
