KEPCO Technology Holdings, established with a 100% investment by the Korea Electric Power Corporation, has launched. KEPCO Technology Holdings is KEPCO's specialized energy technology commercialization subsidiary that handles the transfer of more than 8,000 patents held by KEPCO and technologies owned by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology and others to prospective founders and startups, focusing on business development in the energy sector.
KEPCO said on the 7th that it held a launch ceremony for KEPCO Technology Holdings at KEPCO headquarters in Naju, Gwangju, South Jeolla. KEPCO Technology Holdings promotes the public technology commercialization of the energy sector. Initially, it will invest directly in corporations, and when the corporations enter a growth stage, it plans to establish and support scale-up funds to foster unicorn corporations.
This reflects an environment in which venture and startup firms and research institutions in the energy sector, despite holding technology, have faced difficulties in commercialization due to massive investment expense and long payback periods.
KEPCO will also link demonstrations and follow-up investment using energy infrastructure and data. It plans to build a closed-loop corporate growth platform that connects promising technologies, cooperative projects, and demonstration infrastructure held by KEPCO and the public sector with the private sector's innovation capacity, leading from technology transfer to demonstration, investment, productization, and entry into domestic and overseas markets. Through this, KEPCO plans to actively lead the global new energy market, estimated at 3,100 quadrillion won (about $213 trillion) by 2050.
Coinciding with the launch of KEPCO Technology Holdings, KEPCO and seven domestic solar inverter manufacturing corporations signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic solar inverter industry. They agreed to cooperate to expand the domestic solar inverter manufacturing base in line with the expansion of renewable energy deployment.
KEPCO President Kim Dong-cheol said, "The establishment of KEPCO Technology Holdings is a breakthrough to overcome the structural disconnect between technology and capital," adding, "Under the mission of national prosperity through energy, we will certainly nurture 'K-energy unicorn corporations' that can compete confidently in the global market with technology from Korea."
Minister Kim Seong-hwan of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said, "KEPCO Technology Holdings should become a growth platform that connects technology accumulated by the public sector to the market and develops corporations' ideas into new industries," adding, "We expect a foundation to be laid for unicorn corporations to grow in the domestic energy sector."