[Edaily Reporter Yun Junghoon ] Two out of every 10 solar power plants nationwide are connected through a single app. This is the story of Enlighten, an energy IT platform company that goes beyond simply building and managing solar power plants to also selling the electricity they generate to businesses. In an interview with E-Daily on the 14th, Enlighten CEO Lee Young-ho stated, “About 23% of power plants nationwide are using our app,” adding, “That amounts to 32,000 power plants with a total installed capacity of 8 GW (gigawatts).”

Enlighten is expanding its Virtual Power Plant (VPP) business, which connects scattered solar power plants via software to operate them as a single power plant. CEO Lee founded the company in 2016 after spending about 10 years managing energy infrastructure investments at a securities firm. Starting with solar finance and construction, the company has since expanded its business scope to include asset management and electricity trading.

The foundation of the business is the power asset management app “Power King.” Power plant operators can use the app to check power generation levels, revenue, and performance comparisons with other plants. Enlighten also leverages the accumulated data to provide integrated services for plant management, insurance, and finance.

CEO Lee explained, “Before ‘Power King,’ it was a complete mystery whether solar power generation was performing well or not,” adding, “Now, if generation is underperforming, they identify the cause and entrust us with management.”

The company is currently focusing its efforts on power purchase agreements (PPAs) between businesses. This model involves securing electricity generated by power plants for long-term supply to companies. Notably, Naver (NAVER(035420)) has had a PPA with Enlighten since 2022, sourcing approximately 15% of the annual electricity consumption for its second headquarters, “1784,” from solar power. Recently, the company also signed a business agreement for renewable energy projects with SK eternix(475150).

CEO Lee noted that demand currently exceeds supply in the market and that the reasons companies are seeking renewable energy have also changed.

“While compliance with RE100 (a campaign to source 100% of electricity from renewable energy) was the primary goal in the past, there has recently been a growing demand for cost savings due to rising industrial electricity rates,” he said. “Since industrial electricity is more expensive than solar power, there are clear cost savings to be had, which is why there is demand.”

However, since the over-the-counter power market is still in its early stages, profitability remains low. Nevertheless, Enlighten believes it can improve profitability in the future by leveraging the know-how and expertise it has accumulated through the process of directly purchasing electricity and reselling it to companies.

A key strategy for expanding domestic solar power supply is rooftop solar systems at factories. This is a subscription-based model in which Enlighten handles everything from financing to facility construction and operation, while the company uses the electricity generated. A key feature is that companies can adopt solar power without the burden of initial investment costs.

CEO Lee highlighted the growth potential, stating, “If solar panels were installed on all factory roofs in domestic industrial complexes, there is a potential capacity of 50 GW, representing a project cost of approximately 100 trillion won,” adding, “Once installed, these are infrastructure assets that operate for 20 to 30 years.”

The competitiveness of the VPP business stems from power generation forecasting technology. While solar power generation varies depending on the weather, aggregating multiple power plants can reduce volatility and improve forecasting accuracy.

CEO Lee stated, “It’s difficult to make accurate predictions based on a single power plant, but grouping them at 9-kilometer intervals significantly improves prediction accuracy.” He added, “The average distance between power plants registered on Power King is about 8 kilometers; the real-time data from 30,000 locations is both the source of our technological competitiveness and a barrier to entry.”

AI data centers are a medium- to long-term strategic target. Given that data centers require 24-hour power, it is difficult to guarantee a stable supply using solar power alone. Enlighten plans to address this by integrating energy storage systems (ESS) and demand response (DR). However, since domestic AI data centers currently use inexpensive general-purpose electricity, demand for renewable energy is low at present.

CEO Lee said, “Operating a single 40-MW data center requires 240 MW of solar power, but since such single-site power plants are virtually nonexistent, our first priority is to pool resources,” adding, “There will be opportunities for global AI data centers hoping to enter the domestic market, as the use of renewable energy is essential for them.”

Enlighten aims to list on KOSDAQ in 2027. Last year, its consolidated revenue reached 48.5 billion won, and the company posted profits in both operating and net income.