「분산에너지 활성화 특별법(안)」에 대한 검토 - 지역에너지 분권의 관점에서 -

Abstract

Korea Electric Power Corporation, which is in charge of electricity, has been supplying high-quality electricity cheaply and stably for the past 40 years since its establishment in 1982. However, existing centralized power systems now face the challenge of no longer delaying changes at various stages. The first reason is that the economic and social costs of traditional central proprietary power supply systems are increasing. The second reason is that there is a high risk of disruptions in stable power supply. The third reason is that the instability of the power system is increasing due to the increase in renewable energy. Finally, since the Kyoto Protocol took effect in 2005, Korea and companies have also been under pressure amid the global trend of carbon neutrality and greenhouse gas reduction, which is difficult to achieve with the traditional central supply system. So, how can we overcome this crisis now that we are facing a crisis both internally and externally in the energy industry? It is to create branches in areas that produce energy and consume energy. Our energy systems are centrally controlled with respect to the production, distribution and sale of energy. However, as seen above, the Korean government and energy experts are currently striving to transition to a decentralized energy system, showing the limitations of the centralized energy supply system. First, it is necessary to clarify the concept of distributed energy. Distributed energy refers to energy produced and consumed near areas where energy is used, and distributed energy resources refer to resources that can contribute to the production and storage of energy and the resolution of surplus power near the demand site. Distributed power sources mainly refer to power sources, while distributed energy resources (DER) collectively refer to energy storage devices and demand resource trading markets as well as distributed power sources such as solar heat. Due to the advantages of distributed energy, attempts are being made to expand and activate distributed energy resources worldwide. In June 2021, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy established and announced a "distributed energy revitalization promotion strategy" that includes measures to stabilize the power system, expand distributed energy resources, and revitalize the trading market. Rep. Kim Sung-hwan of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed a special law to revitalize distributed energy in July 2021 and proposed it in September 2021. Therefore, in this paper, the contents of the special law on the activation of distributed energy were examined in detail as follows. 1) The main contents and implications of the definition and scope of distributed energy, 2) Basic plan and implementation plan for revitalizing distributed energy, 3) Distributed energy business registration system, 4) Duty to install distributed energy facilities (mandatory quota system), 5)The main contents and implications of the management and supervision of the distribution network, 6) power system impact assessment, 7) distributed energy specialized area designation and revitalization support project, and 8) regional differential rate system and distributed benefit compensation system were examined.