South Korea launches first distribution-line ESS program with nine partners

Type: Partnership · Technology: Storage · Country: South Korea · Value: $377.3M · Announced: 2026-07-16

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of South Korea signed business agreements with nine companies to deploy energy storage systems on distribution lines, committing KRW 558.6 billion ($377.3 million) in funding. The selected firms – VPP Lab, LG Energy Solution, KEPCO KDN, SK Ecoplant, HD Hyundai Electric, Gridwiz, Korea East‑West Power, Korea Midland Power and Hyundai Engineering & Construction – will install 4 MW/20 MWh ESS units on each of 32 distribution lines in the Honam and Jeju regions. The installations amount to 128 MW of storage capacity and will enable roughly 5.7 MW of queued solar projects to connect at each site, supporting an additional 1 GW of renewable interconnection capacity by 2030. The program targets grid congestion relief and will add about 1 350 GWh of annual solar generation, equivalent to the daily electricity needs of 50 000 households. The initiative aligns with South Korea’s “Korean‑style next‑generation power grid” strategy announced in 2025 and will prioritize next‑generation battery chemistries such as NMC and LFP. No external advisors or lenders were disclosed, and the Ministry will oversee implementation through the selected partners.

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