Ulsan City Moves Toward '2050 Carbon Neutrality'... Launches Ulsan-Style Distributed Energy Data Platform Construction

Consortium Including Korea Energy Agency, Gridwiz Co., Ltd., and SK Gas

Business Overview Diagram.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Ulsan City is launching the ‘Distributed Energy Data Platform Construction Project’ to achieve the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ goal.

This project was selected in the ‘2021 Regional New Energy Business’ competition hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and will be promoted in three phases annually from this year through 2023.

The project aims to activate the new energy industry by building a distributed resource data platform through consulting for high energy-consuming companies and investigating the status and potential of distributed energy.

Distributed energy refers to small-scale power generation facilities such as solar power, fuel cells, and energy storage systems (ESS) widely distributed in public and private sectors within the region as part of renewable energy dissemination projects.

This project supports Ulsan City and companies in achieving the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ goal through all-in-one energy consulting covering all distributed resources including demand response (DR), energy storage systems (ESS), electric vehicle charging, energy efficiency, hydrogen charging, and fuel cells latent in Ulsan City.

Ulsan City leads the project, with a consortium consisting of Gridwiz Co., Ltd., SK Gas, SKD&D, Gems Co., Ltd., Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, and Ulsan University.

The main project content includes integrating and managing data from small-scale power generation facilities, providing linked services, and developing operational technologies through real-time data analysis.

Additionally, it will actively promote achieving Ulsan City’s ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ goal by supporting all-in-one energy consulting covering all distributed resources installed in industrial sites.

Furthermore, a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) platform will be established to generate revenue by organically integrating various distributed resource data.

The plan also includes providing new business opportunities by preemptively responding to the rapidly changing electricity market, including low-carbon energy transition for industrial sites and participation in RE100.

The total project cost is 6.4 billion KRW, composed of 50% national and city funds and 50% private funds, with 750 million KRW invested this year.

Separately, consortium companies including Gridwiz Co., Ltd., SK Gas, SKD&D, and Gems Co., Ltd. plan to invest about 10 billion KRW in projects such as 1MW solar power and 1.5MW fuel cells.

Ulsan City expects that upon completion of this project, optimal distributed resource monitoring will be provided and shared, enabling power generation prediction based on energy user patterns and climate conditions through real-time operation status of distributed resources.

It anticipates creating a market worth approximately 6.93 billion KRW annually, reducing 5,144 tons of greenhouse gases, and creating 214 jobs by advancing the new energy industry infrastructure and establishing a foundation for participation in new energy markets.

An official from Ulsan City said, “Although industrial sites aiming for carbon neutrality face many technical challenges, this project is significant in providing carbon neutrality solutions to various industrial sites in Ulsan, the largest industrial city in Korea, and deriving the potential of the new energy industry by linking and operating distributed resources scattered within the region.”