Korea Initiates Public ESS Procurements Exceeding 7GWh, Valued Over 2 Trillion Won
Korea's public sector initiated multiple large-scale energy storage system (ESS) procurements in late September 2026, totaling over 7 GWh. The largest, the Korea Power Exchange (KPX) Central Contract Market, is valued at approximately 2 trillion KRW for 7,080 MWh and includes new grid-forming inverter requirements.
Our take
Does Korea's 7 GWh public storage procurement leave room for merchant battery investors?
Korea's 7 GWh public storage procurement grows contracted and subsidised storage rather than a merchant market, since mainland contracts pay a fixed price with no trading and Jeju's market-linked design is only one option.
Outside the optional Jeju design, the AI-powered ESS programme is the route that sells into the market, and its subsidy offsets capital cost without fixing the revenue rules. A merchant route needs settlement that pays for several grid services plus a financeable fixed payment, which none of these announcements sets.
What the source says
- The Korea Power Exchange's Central Contract Market procurement for 2026 newly includes technical requirements for grid-forming inverters.
- The 2026 Korea Power Exchange Central Contract Market is 1,180 MW (7,080 MWh) in total, with 1,100 MW (6,600 MWh) for the mainland and 80 MW (480 MWh) for Jeju Island.
- The 2026 Korea Power Exchange Central Contract Market volume is more than double that of the previous 2nd project.
- The Korea Energy Agency's 2026 AI-powered ESS Construction Support Project (2nd announcement) targets 34 distribution lines in power-saturated regions like Gangwon Pyeongchang and Jeonnam Shinan.
- The Korea Energy Agency's 2026 AI-powered ESS Construction Support Project is estimated to open a market of approximately 136 MW / 680 MWh.
- The bidding for the Korea Power Exchange, Korea Energy Agency, and Korea Electric Power Corporation ESS projects all commenced in the week of September 21, 2026.
- An ESS industry official stated that diverse markets, including the Central Contract Market and the Korea Energy Agency's AI ESS, allow startups and SMEs to participate, fostering industry re-growth.
- The domestic ESS industry previously experienced a prolonged slump due to serial fires and the expiration of weighted values.
For investors — Contracted storage investors should underwrite availability, O&M cost and on-time completion, since the contract price is fixed for the trading period, and confirm equipment meets the new grid-forming inverter requirement.
Merchant storage investors and optimisers should track the settlement changes that would move Korea from government-led to market-led storage, read the Jeju split between the 15-year market-linked and 25-year fixed options as the first test of appetite, and price in competition from the contracted fleet built first on the same grid.
Watch: Announcement of successful bidders for the Korea Power Exchange Central Contract Market and other public ESS projects.
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