South Korean operator LG Uplus entered the power brokerage business, forging deals to cooperate with renewable energy sector specialists Smart Green Village and Hanwha Systems to improve access to solar and wind power supplies.

The companies will focus on introducing virtual power plants (VPPs), gathering suppliers from across Korea in a virtual space to efficiently deliver power and promoting direct trade of renewable energy between companies through power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Smart Green Village will secure solar power generation resources across the country and provide corporate consulting including plans compatible with RE100, an international campaign to deliver 100 per cent of enterprise power needs through renewable sources.

Hanwha Systems will build renewable power plants and provide maintenance services.

LG Uplus explained small-scale solar and wind power generation facilities are dispersed throughout the country, making them difficult to manage.

It also argued an unstable supply of electricity from renewable sources creates challenges in incorporating them into the overall market.

The venture aims to solve these issues by setting up VPPs which can manage a “rapidly changing power supply”, resolve uncertainty and increase “energy use efficiency”.

PPAs provide “more transaction opportunities for small-scale power generation operators”.

Jeon Seung-hoon, MD of corporate platform business at LG Uplus, noted as renewable energy becomes an important power source, the company plans to “respond quickly and take the lead in revitalising renewable energy and achieving carbon neutrality”.