S. Korea, U.S. seek smart grid partnership

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will seek to
establish a smart grid partnership that could help fuel the global development of
a next-generation, eco-friendly power system, the government said Monday.
The "win-win" arrangement calls for merging S. Korea's ability to quickly
commercialize technologies into products and the prowess of the U.S. in core
technologies like Internet protocols, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
It said to support such goals, a memorandum of understanding will be signed
between Korea Smart Grid Association (KSGA) and the U.S. companies making up the
GridWise Alliance later in the day in Washington, while a statement of intent
(SOI) is to be reached between the two governments on Tuesday.
Both agreements are to be reached on the sidelines of President Lee Myung-bak's
visit to Washington this week.
"Smart grids have limitless potential for development and could well become
bestselling products like semiconductors and mobile phones for the country," said
Han Jin-hyun, head of the ministry's energy industry policy bureau.
He stressed that preparatory talks showed both the U.S. government and American
businesses are interested in expanding cooperation with South Korea on this
issue.
"By working together, the two countries could set the pace in terms of global
standards and become 'leaders' in this field that can permit the export of
related products and operating systems," the official said.
Seoul announced last week that it will strive to become the world's first
nationwide user of smart grids by 2030, and said it will establish an operational
system for 3,000 households on Jeju Island by 2011.
The future-oriented grid combines ordinary power lines with information
technology and satellite communication systems, and permits real-time monitoring
of electricity demand and output.
Such a system can effectively track electricity supply, making it easier to use
electricity produced by solar panels and wind generators. Conventional monitoring
systems are unable to track sudden changes in weather conditions that affect
reusable energy generation.
Smart grids can also help the country introduce hybrid or plug-in electric cars
that require detailed monitoring of power quality.
Han, in addition, said that South Korean and U.S. companies can work together to
set up the Jeju testbed that could give all sides a better idea of advantages and
shortfalls of the system.
"Because of South Korea's proven ability to commercialize products, any joint
venture using the comprehensive testbed could help participating companies win
over the global market, where the grid is gaining interest as a way to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and save energy resources," the director general said.
Besides South Korea and the United States, which plan to invest US$4.5 billion in
the next five years, the European Union, China and Australia are all striving to
build their own systems in the future.
The Jeju testbed selected last week is effectively the first of its kind to be
used to check most systems related to operations of smart grids.
"This can be used to check the effective use of reusable energy resources, the
overall efficiency of power used by employing so-called advanced smart meters,
and the feasibility of electricity-driven cars and related infrastructures," the
official said.
He pointed out that the U.S. has conducted 3,000 testbed projects, but these
checked specific products or operating protocol systems, not the entire grid and
its actual application in an ordinary environment.
The ministry in charge of the country's industrial and energy policies said if
the development of smart grids is successful, it could help increase the
percentage of green energy in the country from 2.4 percent of the total power
produced at present to 11 percent in the next two decades.
It can reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming by 41 million
tons, fuel domestic production by 68 trillion won (US$53 billion) by 2030 and
create 500,000 new jobs.
Smart grids can bring about extensive overhauls in the power and energy
industries, fueling demand for new automobiles and consumer electronics products,
and creating work for construction companies.
Policymakers said that talks planned between the KSGA and the Gridwise Alliance
later in the year could help determine what kind of cooperative tie-ups can be
formed and how to share technologies.
For the SOI that is to be signed by the Knowledge Economy Ministry and U.S.
Department of Energy, the focus will be on administrative and technological
support and joint efforts to establish global standards.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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