The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE, Minister Kim Sungwhan) announced that it held the Korea-EU Partnership Forum for Energy Transition in Brussels, Belgium, on June 10, on the occasion of President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit to the European Union (EU).

This event brought together key power companies and transmission and distribution network operators in Europe, and was organized to promote Korea’s high-quality power equipment and create order opportunities in the European market, where the expansion of grid infrastructure and the energy transition toward renewable energy have become urgent priorities following the situation in the Middle East.

At this event, major players in the European energy market attended in large numbers, demonstrating strong interest in Korea’s power industry.

The participants included RWE, Germany’s largest power company; ENEL, Italy’s largest power company; TenneT, the Dutch-German transmission system operator; Elia, Belgium’s state-owned transmission system operator; Siemens Energy, one of Germany’s leading energy companies; Hitachi Energy, a global leader in power grid technology; Lumcloon Energy, a leading Irish renewable energy developer; and ENTSO-E, the association of European transmission system operators.

The MCEE has assembled a Korean power grid “One Team” led by Korea Electric Power Corporation and the Korea Power Exchange. The team also includes power equipment manufacturers such as HD Hyundai Electric and Hyosung Heavy Industries, three battery companies, Hanwha Solutions Qcells, and the virtual power plant startup 60Hertz.

Domestic companies actively promoted their offerings to European firms, including power equipment such as high-efficiency transformers, energy storage system (ESS) solutions to address the intermittency of renewable energy, virtual power plants (VPPs) that use artificial intelligence (AI) to manage distributed energy resources, and next-generation cell and module technologies. They also forged active business partnerships with European companies.

At the event, Taihan Cable & Solution signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cooperation in the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) sector with Jan De Nul of Belgium and Boskalis of the Netherlands, both world-leading offshore power grid installation companies. Under the partnership, Taihan Cable & Solution will manufacture HVDC transmission cables while the European companies will deploy them using their cable-laying vessels, establishing an optimal framework for collaboration across the design, production, and installation stages of HVDC projects.

In his opening remarks, Minister Kim Sungwhan emphasized that “the expansion of renewable energy and the energy transition being pursued by Europe require the establishment of reliable power grid infrastructure to support them.” He added that “Korea’s power equipment, ESS, VPPs, and solar energy companies, whose world-class manufacturing capabilities and technologies have been proven, will become Europe’s most trusted partners.” He further explained that “the government, public enterprises, and private companies will operate as one team to actively support projects involving Korean companies by providing policy financing for equipment manufacturing, equity investment, and project financing.”

Meanwhile, the EU announced its Accelerate EU policy in April this year to speed up the energy transition. As demand grows for the expanded deployment of renewable energy and cross-border electricity interconnections, the EU has emerged as the world’s third-largest grid market after the United States and China, with plans to invest EUR 584 billion by 2030.

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