A Peek into the Future of the Smart Grid

The Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed is the venue of Korea Smart Grid Week

Global leaders and experts from around the world will come to the Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed for an opportunity to take a look into what it’s like in the smart grid world.
Korea Smart Grid Week will take place at Phoenix Island Resort, Jeju, and the Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed from Nov. 8-14 to coincide with the G20 Seoul Summit, which will bring together more than 100 G20 heads of state, finance ministers and business leaders.
The main events of the Korea Smart Grid Week include the Smart Grid Test Bed International Conference, the Opening Ceremony for the Smart Grid Test Bed PR Center & test bed tour, the ISGN (International Smart Grid Network) Sub-Ministerial Meeting, the IEA Smart Grid Workshop, the International Forum on Smart Grid Technology and Standards and the Smart Grid Business Fair.
Korea is quickly moving to nurture smart grid technology as a growth engine of the national economy by 2030, as the Korean shipbuilding, semiconductor and automobile industries have been. The nation is one of the trendsetters in the smart grid scheme, as the Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed is in place to test most systems related to the operation of smart grids.
The Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed, which aims to be the world’s first “all-inclusive” test bed, consists of one PR center and four experience pavilions. The smart grid complex allows visitors to fully experience a wide range of smart grid prototypes available. They include smart meters, in-home displays, smart home appliances, electric vehicle-charging infrastructure, wind turbines and photovoltaic equipment.
A smart grid is a next-generation, intelligent electricity network that connects an energy network and a communications network by grafting it with information technology.
The smart grid market is predicted to see its revenues surge by an estimated $200 billion yearly after 2015.
Visitors to the PR Center cum KEPCO Comprehensive Pavilion can get a better understanding of Korea’s smart grid concepts and the Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed. The hall provides such information as skeletons of smart grids; the production of the nation’s smart grid roadmap; real-time simulation of the smart grid through the operation of an integrated operation center; the realization of new electricity power sources; the introduction of the composition of the smart grid test bed; and the experience pavilions.
Spectators at the experience pavilion on convergence between broadcasting and telecommunications, being operated by SK Telecom, SK Energy and Hyundai Heavy Industries, see demonstrations and experience smart ICT-based home/C&I energy management, new electricity services, including energy trading, DR, EV and a renewable village.
The experience pavilion “Smart Cafe” on the combination of smartphones and smart grids, being operated by KT and GS Caltex, provides experiences and services that integrate electricity, broadcasting and telecommunications. Visitors to the pavilion can experience new concepts of pricing based on real-time pricing circumstances, monitoring and the controlling of energy through four screens ― internet telephony, smartphone, personal computer and IPTV, and monitoring of the operation of mini-electric vehicles. Electricity and other diverse forms of information can be obtained at any time, in any place via smartphones as part of its efforts to differentiate itself from other competitors.
The pavilion for real-time experiences of smart home appliances, being operated by LG Electronics and KEPCO, will give an insight into smart grid living through an overnight stay in a smart grid pension. Spectators will experience energy efficiency practices through the use of smart home appliances. The pavilion will introduce in-house energy optimization algorithms and fundamentals of smart devices as well as energy conservation through the use of new and renewable energy, including photovoltaic power, wind power and battery cells.
The experience pavilion on the understanding of energy fundamentals, being run by POSCO ICT, operates a mobile smart gird experience hall that can go any place information on smart grids needs to be presented. Spectators can see theme videos via the outside large-sized LED screen, monitor new and renewable energy circulation situations and experience energy production processes as well as the production of electricity by turning generators on their own and lighting electric bulbs. Visitors can take a look into the production and utilization of all energies, including new and renewable energy, noises, body heat and optimization technologies. nw

A whole view of the Jeju Smart Grid Test Bed, being run by Korea as part of efforts to foster the smart grid as the nation’s future green growth engine.