[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-wook] #Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), the Korea Power Exchange, HD Hyundai Electric, Hyosung Heavy Industries, and other players in the power industry are seeking opportunities to enter the EU market on the occasion of President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit to the European Union (EU).

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment held the “Korea-EU Energy Transition Win-Win Cooperation Forum” on the 10th (local time) in Brussels, Belgium, with a large contingent of the Korean power grid industry in attendance.

The event was organized to promote Korea’s high-quality power equipment and create opportunities for securing local contracts, taking advantage of President Lee’s state visit.

The EU is the third-largest power grid market after the United States and China. In particular, the EU announced the "Accelerate EU" initiative in April of this year, which includes plans to expand interconnections between national power grids alongside renewable energy generation facilities, raising expectations for increased investment in this sector. The total investment plan through 2030 amounts to 584 billion euros (1,026 trillion won).

Led by the state-owned Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and the Korea Power Exchange, the Ministry of Climate Change formed a “One Team” comprising power equipment manufacturers, the “Big Three” battery companies, Hanwha Solutions’ Q CELLS division, and virtual power plant (VPP) startups. The team promoted high-efficiency transformers, energy storage system (ESS) solutions, AI-managed VPPs, and next-generation solar cells and modules while seeking cooperation opportunities with local companies.

The forum was attended by a large number of representatives from major European companies, including RWE (Germany’s largest power company), ENEL (Italy’s largest power company), TenneT (a Dutch-German transmission system operator), Siemens Energy (a leading German energy company), and Hitachi Energy (a power grid technology company).

Daehan Cable, a manufacturer of ultra-high-voltage transmission cables, signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) at the forum with Belgian subsea power grid contractor Yandeol and Dutch firm Boskalis to establish a local cooperation framework in the High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission sector.

In his opening remarks at the forum, Minister of Climate Kim Sung-hwan stated, “K-power companies are Europe’s most reliable partners,” adding, “We will actively support projects involving our companies by allocating policy funds.”

Meanwhile, Minister Kim met with EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen on the same day to discuss cooperative measures to overcome the energy security crisis stemming from the Middle East. Both sides agreed that reducing dependence on fossil fuels by expanding the share of renewable energy and promoting electrification is the only way out of the current energy security threat, and decided to strengthen policy exchanges. To this end, they agreed to establish a new vice-ministerial-level Korea-EU energy dialogue channel and make it a regular event.