KEPCO’s microgrid enters Canadian market

The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. has successfully built its state-of-the-art independent power system in Penetanguishene, a small town in Ontario, Canada, expanding its business to the North American market, officials said Thursday.

KEPCO said it held a completion ceremony for the establishment of a microgrid in the town where some 440 households reside. Microgrid is a power system that can be autonomously run in a limited region. The energy monitoring system controls the renewable energy sources, such as solar power and wind power, and the energy storage system. 

This is the first time that Korea has exported the self-produced microgrid system to the overseas market.

The system, with a capacity of 7.2 megawatts, was funded by KEPCO with about 2.1 billion won ($1.82 million) and Canadian power company Powerstream with 1.8 million Canadian dollars.

The two parties agreed to jointly push for other projects in the future, the company said.

Currently, the size of the world’s microgrid business amounts to $33 billion, with the North American market accounting for the one third of it.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)