Expansion of Korea-Germany Climate Tech and New Energy Industry Technology Exchange Cooperation

Jeonnam Direct Current Industry Global Innovation Zone - Germany Fraunhofer Silicon Technology Institute
Energy New Industry International Joint R&D Fully Launched

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 16th that it held the ‘Korea-Germany International Joint R&D Roundtable on New Energy Industries’ at the University of Kiel in Holstein, Germany, where experts and companies from both countries discussed ways to cooperate on technology in the new energy industry sector.

The Ministry supports an international joint research and development (R&D) project worth 6.4 billion KRW to secure global capabilities through overseas demonstration research by global innovation zone companies. This event was organized to discuss necessary cooperation to achieve research goals based on trust between companies from the Jeonnam DC Industry Global Innovation Zone and German researchers.

The ‘Jeonnam DC Industry Global Innovation Zone’ was established to capture the rapidly growing DC industry market while promoting the transition to eco-friendly energy and fostering related companies. Eco-friendly energy such as solar and wind power generated in direct current (DC) is efficiently transmitted to consumers in DC form without undergoing conversion to alternating current (AC), which is a core technology for climate tech aimed at carbon neutrality.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Jeollanam-do have identified Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology (ISIT), a leader in power semiconductors and DC conversion technology, as the optimal partner for cooperation and have been conducting ongoing practical consultations. Jeollanam-do, the Green Energy Research Institute, and Fraunhofer ISIT also signed a memorandum of understanding to activate R&D, technology transfer, and knowledge sharing in the DC industry sector and to facilitate smooth cooperation on demonstration of DC power equipment and data collection.

Im Jeong-wook, Director of the Startup Venture Innovation Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Technology cooperation between Korea and Germany for DC conversion is highly meaningful in responding to climate change, which has emerged as a top priority for the international community.” He added, “Since startups play a crucial role in enabling faster and bolder climate tech innovation, we will spare no support for exchanges and cooperation between Korean and German startups in the climate tech field.”