On the 1st, the government designated a total of 99 transmission line and substation construction projects as part of the national backbone power grid. The buildout of the "energy expressway," the new administration's top energy policy priority, is expected to shift into full gear.
That day at the Seoul Government Complex in Seoul, the government held the "1st National Backbone Power Grid Expansion Committee" meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Kim Min-seok. Relevant ministries, metropolitan governments, and private-sector experts attended. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment plans to operate a whole-of-government governance framework based on the special act on power grids to accelerate the buildout of the energy expressway.
In this first meeting, three items were discussed: ▲ designation and implementation plans for national backbone power grid facilities ▲ strategies to foster the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) industry ▲ measures to stabilize the grid during the Gyeongbu low-load period.
First, under the special act on power grids, a total of 99 transmission line and substation construction projects were designated as part of the national backbone power grid. The government plans to expand the West Coast energy expressway in the 2030s and the U-shaped energy expressway in the 2040s, pursuing permitting special cases and expanded resident support in parallel, as well as joint construction of social overhead capital (SOC) (road–power grid).
The committee also prepared an "HVDC industry fostering strategy" and decided to actively utilize HVDC when building the energy expressway. By 2030, it plans to complete development and demonstration of high-capacity voltage-source HVDC technology and move into export industrialization.
Regarding measures to stabilize the grid during the Gyeongbu low-load period, a fall grid stabilization response period has been set from the 20th of last month to the 16th of next month, and an emergency response team is in operation.
Meanwhile, immediately after the power grid committee meeting, a signing ceremony was held, attended by Minister Kim Sung-hwan of the climate ministry, for memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cooperation among relevant agencies and corporations regarding ▲ construction of a West Coast HVDC converter station ▲ establishment of a special-purpose company (SPC) for an HVDC demonstration project.
Prime Minister Kim said, "The power grid committee launched today must focus on building a social consensus that allows local communities and the public to participate, beyond mere technical reviews," adding, "Through this, it is important to minimize unnecessary conflict and build a balanced and stable power grid system nationwide."