Q: What is Smart Grid?

A: Smart Grid is a next generation power grid that integrates IT with the existing power network to optimize energy efficiency through the interactive exchange of real-time information between the supplier and the consumer. 

Q: Why Smart Grid?

A: Smart grids have an immense potential to resolve energy and environmental concerns. Through Smart Grid, Korea hopes to reduce national electricity consumption by 6% while facilitating a wider use of new and renewable energy. In addition, Korea will reduce our national GHG emission by 4.6%. 

Q: When was Smart Grid project first initiated?

A: On August 15th of 2008, on the day of the anniversary of the founding of Republic of Korea, President Lee Myung-Bak announced a new national vision, “Low Carbon, Green Growth.” Since then, Korean government has made many strategies and plans concerning green growth, and Smart Grid is the essential basis for low carbon green growth strategy. The government laid out a roadmap in five sectors to implement Smart Grid in Korea. These five sectors include Smart power grid, Smart Consumer, Smart transportation, Smart Renewables and Smart electricity Service.

Q: What are the benefits of Smart Grid?

A: As mentioned before about Korea’s roadmap for implementing Smart Grid, there are five sectors in this road map, which are, Smart power grid, smart consumer, smart transportation, smart renewable and smart electricity. By implementing these five sectors, by year 2030, Korea plans to reduce 230 million tons of GHG emissions and annually create 50,000 jobs. Smart grid will enable active participation by consumers. A two-way communication will create a dialog between utilities and consumers enabling consumers to see what electricity they use, when they use and how much it costs in real-time. In addition, Smart power grid has automated recovery system which will ensure high quality power supply. Also, today’s grid is far too susceptible to disruption by means of both natural disaster and human actions or attack. The Smart Grid will address critical security issues from the outset, making security a requirement for all of its elements. 

Q: What will be the outcome of Smart Grid in Korea?

A: In a larger perspective, it can be broken down into national standpoint, industrial standpoint and an individual standpoint. First of all, in a national standpoint we can address energy and climate change related issues. Through Smart Grid, we plan to reduce our national energy consumption by 3% by the year 2030, which is only 10% of the electric energy consumption. Also we expect to develop firm basis in expanding our supply of wind and solar power. Second if all, in an industrial standpoint, by exporting Smart Grid, we hope to achieve economic benefits in this green growth movement for our nation. With the scale of 68 billion won domestic market, this will create approximately 50,000 new jobs and we expect that our accumulated know-how’s will work as a bridge for us to advance into the international market. 

Q: What kind of national Smart Grid project is Korea working on?

A: The most noticeable plan in Korea’s Smart Grid project is the construction of a Smart Grid Testbed in Jeju Island. The Jeju Smart Grid Test bed will become the world’s largest Smart Grid community that allows testing of the most advanced Smart Grid technologies and R&D results. 

Q: Can international corporations participate in Jeju’s Test-bed?

A: Domestic technologies are not adequate to realize internationally recognized Smart Grid. We do not plan on restricting participation of industries from overseas. In addition, those foreign companies with advanced technologies will collaborate with our domestic industries as well as be able to participate as one of the consortiums. There will not by any discriminations of favorable treatment for or against foreign industries.

Q: How is Korea’s SG project involved internationally?

A: The Illinois Institute of Technology proposed partnering with the Republic of Korea to designate the South Campus portion of the Perfect System as the “IIT-Korea Perfect Power System” The collaborative areas are as follows:
 - Smart City
 - R&D with universities and labs, Human Resource Development
 - Localized strategies
The Illinois-Korea Energy Technology Partnership will create laboratories at Illinois Institute of Technology and research partnerships with Illinois Universities and Argonne National Lab.

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