KEPCO opens applications for released capacity at 164 Honam substations
KEPCO has opened applications for released grid capacity at 164 substations in Honam (Gwangju, Jeonnam and Jeonbuk), where the government lifted the grid-constrained designation on 1 October 2026 under its power grid innovation plan. Existing permit holders can apply for transmission capacity between 1 and 30 October 2026; new applicants can apply from 4 January 2027.
Our take
Who benefits from Korea's newly released grid connection capacity for solar and wind, permitted projects or new entrants?
Honam projects holding a generation permit by 30 September 2026 benefit first from Korea's released grid capacity, while new entrants wait until January 2027 and may connect sooner only under non-firm access.
A permit secures a place in the review queue, not a connection date, because released capacity is limited and allocated in review order. How much each permitted project gains depends on what KEPCO's December 2026 review actually allocates.
What the source says
- KEPCO will allocate released capacity first to existing permit holders (projects holding a generation permit by 30 September 2026), then to new applicants.
- For projects connecting at 22.9 kV or below, existing permit holders can apply for distribution capacity at any time and for transmission capacity between 1 and 30 October 2026.
- For projects connecting at 154 kV or above, existing permit holders seeking early connection can apply between 1 and 30 October 2026.
- New applicants can apply from 4 January 2027, at any voltage level.
- Applications at 22.9 kV or below are reviewed in the order KEPCO receives them.
- Applications at 154 kV or above are reviewed in order of generation permit date, or permit application date where permit dates are the same.
- Existing permit holders' applications (all voltage levels) are reviewed together, with results by December 2026.
- New applicants' applications are reviewed in order of receipt from January 2027.
- If applications exceed available capacity, capacity is allocated in review order, so connection may come later than requested.
- Transmission-connected permit holders that do not apply within the window keep their original connection date.
- After the grid connection agreement is signed, transmission-connected projects may be checked every year for delay or capacity hoarding.
- A further 25 substations in the East Coast region are expected to be released once the East Coast–Singapyeong HVDC line is completed (scheduled for H1 2027); application dates will be announced separately.
- On lines in the government's distribution-grid ESS programme, additional renewable plants must sell through a VPP and accept curtailment; waiting projects that decline VPP registration give up connection on that line (programme notice, 21 September 2026).
- Under the government's power grid innovation plan, renewable plants awaiting connection may connect under non-firm access until fully connected and are curtailed first when the grid is congested; this starts on distribution lines in January 2027 and on substation transformers in H1 2027 (plan, 29 September 2026).
- Under the renewable energy act promulgated on 15 September 2026, a contract market replaces the RPS from 1 January 2027 and new REC issuance is limited from that date. According to the ministry's public hearing materials (30 September 2026, draft rules): plants already issued RECs keep receiving and trading them for up to 20 years, whether or not they move to a long-term contract; plants permitted in 2026 can still enter the RPS if they pass pre-use inspection by the end of 2027 (solar, wind, hydro; 2028 for bioenergy and fuel cells); REC long-term contracts already won in government auctions are protected, including for projects that start operating after 2027; the REC spot market runs until 31 December 2029, and spot sellers can move to long-term contracts through an annual transition auction; existing fixed-price contract plants that switch to an RE100 PPA can end their contract by mutual agreement. In the new market, auction winners sign long-term fixed-price contracts with KEPCO settled against the SMP as a contract for difference; plants of 500 kW or less get a separate market and only designated renewable energy service companies (ReSCOs) may aggregate small plants (draft; comments close on 2 November 2026).
- Korea Energy Agency According to the Korea Energy Agency's working draft presented at a meeting with generators on 15 September 2026 (for consultation, not final): RPS settlement covers RECs for up to 20 years from first issuance, after which RECs are still issued and sold in the RE100 market; solar and wind projects selected in government auctions enter the RPS if completed by the deadline in the auction notice; the spot-to-contract transition runs as three auctions (2027, 2028, H1 2029) and a buy-out of the remaining plants in H2 2029, with contracts lasting 20 years minus the years RECs have already been issued; price caps, based on 2025, are KRW 61,989 per REC for bioenergy and fuel cells and KRW 148,339 for the SMP plus one REC (reference SMP KRW 86,350/MWh) for solar, wind, hydro and waste, lowered by about 5% each year.
- The government reports average solar curtailment of 0.18% in 2025, but notes that some plants in Honam and Jeju may face heavy curtailment in spring and autumn (plan, 29 September 2026).
For investors — Buyers of development-stage solar assets should screen Honam projects that held a permit by 30 September and were awaiting connection, but price connection dates only once KEPCO's review results arrive in December 2026.
Solar and wind developers entering from January 2027 should model curtailment above the 2025 solar average of 0.18% if they take non-firm access, and compare wholesale sales alone with wholesale sales under a long-term contract won in the auction that replaces the RPS.
Watch: KEPCO's review results for existing permit holders (by December 2026); comments on the contract-market draft decree and rules (closing 2 November 2026) and the final sub-rules due by the end of 2026; new connection applications and the first solar and wind auctions in early 2027.
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