SEOUL, August 01 (AJP) - South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Power Exchange on Thursday confirmed plans to deploy 563 megawatts (MW) of energy storage systems (ESS) nationwide, a move aligned with the government's long-term strategy to bolster renewable energy infrastructure.
The announcement followed a bidding committee meeting held on July 31. The centralized bidding system, introduced in 2023, initially covered three pilot sites on Jeju Island with a combined capacity of 68MW. Developed to address increasing grid instability and reduce the curtailment of solar and wind energy, the platform opened its first full-scale nationwide round this year, offering 540MW for allocation—500MW on the mainland and 40MW for Jeju.
A total of 51 project proposals were submitted. Eight were selected: seven located in South Jeolla Province with a total capacity of 523MW, and one in Jeju with 40MW, bringing the total to 563MW.
Under South Korea’s 11th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, the country is aiming for 2.22 gigawatts (GW) of ESS capacity by 2029. To put the scale into perspective, a 540MW facility, assuming a four-hour storage duration and an average daily consumption of 5 kilowatt-hours per household, could theoretically supply electricity to around 216,000 households for one day. Reaching the 2.22GW target would multiply that capacity nearly fourfold, reflecting the government's growing reliance on ESS to support its energy transition.
Selected project developers are expected to secure power generation permits by January 2026, with installations scheduled for completion by the end of December 2026. A second round of bidding is expected to open in October to maintain momentum in meeting the government’s ESS targets.
"Installing ESS near substations in the Honam region, where renewable generation is concentrated, will help stabilize the local grid," said Choi Yeon-woo, Director-General for Electricity Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "Until new transmission lines are built to fully resolve output restrictions, ESS will play a key role in easing solar curtailment and expanding renewable energy production and consumption."
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