Solving Youth and Power Market Issues Together... Ministry of Industry and 2030 Advisory Group Visit Korea Power Exchange

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 11th that Vice Minister Choi Nam-ho visited the Korea Power Exchange with the 2030 Advisory Group to receive a briefing on power market and grid issues.

The 2030 Advisory Group, consisting of a total of 21 members including youth aides (leaders), employees of private companies and public institutions, and students, visited an energy site following Minister Ahn Deok-geun's visit to an industrial site (SSG.com Fulfillment Center) on the 6th.

Choi Nam-ho, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. (File photo)

Established in April 2001, the power market, which will celebrate its 23rd anniversary next month, has been continuously growing. Last year, the power trading volume reached 545 TWh, approximately 2.7 times the 199 TWh recorded in 2001, and the installed capacity expanded about 2.9 times from 48 GW to 138 GW during the same period. The Korea Power Exchange was also the first in East Asia to be appointed as the chair company for the 2025 meeting of the Global Organization of Power System Operators (GO15), enhancing the global status of Korea’s power market.

Institutional improvements in the power market are also underway to respond to environmental changes. To ensure that zero-carbon power sources such as nuclear power and hydrogen, whose importance has recently been emphasized, can be expanded stably and efficiently through the power market, the introduction of government-approved difference contracts for nuclear power and a clean hydrogen bidding market is being promoted. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to implement a renewable energy bidding system after a trial operation from March to May this year to address volatility and grid management issues associated with the expansion of renewable energy and to establish a stable growth foundation for renewable energy. Additionally, it plans to induce the decentralization of power resources according to the Special Act on the Activation of Distributed Energy.

Vice Minister Choi said, "As recent difficulties in power supply and demand management have become year-round, extending beyond the traditional summer and winter power shortages to include oversupply situations in spring and autumn, we will prepare the 'Spring-Summer Power Grid Stabilization Measures' within this month and ensure thorough grid operation." He added, "Since improvements to the power market system are pursued over a long period and have a close impact on future generations through electricity rates and carbon neutrality, the interest and role of young people are necessary."