The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on July 31 announced that it will start construction of a next-generation power grid using domestic know-how. Shown is a solar power plant in the village of Gudae-ri on Anjwado (Purple) Island in Sinan-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province. (Sinan-gun County Office)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

The government's planned construction of a next-generation power grid seeks to follow the global movement toward boldly investing in such networks to expand renewable energy supply.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on July 31 said it will promote the advancement of the power grid using domestic technology and know-how.

The idea is to build an intelligent power grid that optimizes electricity generation, storage and consumption by managing distributed energy sources such as renewable energy and energy storage systems using artificial intelligence.

The existing power grid uses a "one-way" approach of power generation, transmission and distribution that uses large generators connected to the transmission network to send power to demand sources nationwide.

But the next-generation model is a "two-way" system in which renewable energy sources like solar is mainly connected to the distribution grid, which is used to send power to demand sources, and surplus electricity is sent back to the transmission grid.

The ministry will test the new power grid in select regions and widen its use throughout the country.

Thus a team to promote the next-generation power grid will be formed led by Second Vice Minister Lee Hohyeon and include related government ministries and local governments to devise a roadmap and ensure detailed implementation.

aisylu@korea.kr