Companies that had prepared renewable energy trading businesses plan to send a letter to the Presidential Office and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment calling for nationwide implementation of a renewable energy bidding system.
Korean companies involved in renewable energy trading will deliver a joint letter on the 2nd to President Lee Jae-myung and Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan, together with the civic group Solutions for Our Climate, outlining various views on renewable energy policy, according to industry sources on the 1st. Six companies are taking part: large firms including LG Energy Solution and KT, along with renewable energy trading platform startups Haezoom, Encored, H Energy and VPP Lab.
The letter urges the government to move quickly on expanding the renewable energy bidding system nationwide. The joint action comes as companies that had prepared new businesses around the system grow increasingly concerned about losing their investments and other damage to their operations.
The renewable energy bidding system allows electricity generated from renewable sources to be bid and sold one day ahead of generation. Until now, only power from conventional sources such as thermal and nuclear plants could be traded through the bidding system, and the key change is to allow power generated from renewables such as solar and wind as well. The system is expected to improve grid stability by giving a more accurate picture of renewable output and demand.
A pilot program began on Jeju Island in June 2024, but the system has yet to be extended nationwide. The government and the Korea Power Exchange had earlier committed to widening the program's scope nationwide as early as sometime in 2025 and no later than the first half of this year. But authorities had not shared their policy plans with the industry as of the end of last month.
"We poured 4 billion won [about $2.9 million] into replacing customer equipment and developing servers as we prepared this business last year, and it is on the verge of becoming useless," an official at one startup said. "Investors are also clearly reluctant to put in money because the policy roadmap is not certain."
