Supply of power stored in electric vehicles to buildings when power demand reduction orders are issued

KT announced that it is establishing a V2G (Vehicle to Grid, bidirectional charging) testbed at its Bundang office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and will proceed with demonstration of an EV-DR (electric vehicle battery resource-based power demand management) business model following development and verification.

V2G is a technology that can respond to power shortage situations by discharging power stored in EV batteries back to the grid, and was designated as a key new energy service in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's January briefing.

EV-DR is a business model that utilizes electric vehicles as a power supply source based on V2G technology when power demand reduction (DR) occurs. KT replaced approximately 1,500 company vehicles with electric vehicles in 2017 and established EV charging infrastructure across KT offices nationwide.

This past winter saw record-breaking cold waves that resulted in unprecedented power demand reduction (DR) orders issued about 10 times, and situations occurred where some factories and large buildings had to stop equipment operations to reduce power consumption. In such cases, electric vehicles serve as temporary "backup batteries" for factories facing shutdown risks, thereby reducing losses that could occur from shutdown. Additionally, by supplying power stored in electric vehicles to large buildings when power demand reduction (DR) orders are issued, it can contribute to stabilizing national power demand.

Starting with the Bundang office testbed, KT plans to apply EV-DR to all company electric vehicles in the future. Following the 1,500 or so vehicles in 2017, KT plans to replace up to approximately 10,000 company vehicles with electric vehicles. KT will cooperate with SMEs such as Signetv2b, an EV charger manufacturer, to demonstrate V2G technology and concretize its business model with the goal of commercializing EV-DR, expanding the business beyond KT's company vehicles to cover general electric vehicles as well.

The core of KT EV-DR is the world's first integrated energy management platform 'KT-MEG'. The energy artificial intelligence analysis engine 'e-Brain' applied at the Smart Energy Control Center (KT-MEG Center) in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province monitors power status 24 hours a day, enabling real-time management of EV charging and discharging timing as well as immediate response to power demand reduction (DR) situations. In the future, it will be able to provide services including revenue analysis and report issuance for EV-DR users, enabling effective power consumption and maximized customer revenue.

Kim Young-myeong, head of KT's Smart Energy Business Division, said, "When approximately 100,000 electric vehicles simultaneously participate in the DR market with a 5KW capacity per hour in the future, we expect to be able to replace power equivalent to one thermal power plant, enabling more effective DR projects," and added, "Based on the electric vehicles and charging infrastructure KT possesses and our energy control capabilities, we will take the lead in market activation as a V2G pioneer with a sense of responsibility."