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Samma Island

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations6
System facts15
Sources reviewed9
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Samma Island is Samma-do (also rendered Sammado or Three Ma Islands), a three-islet community—Sangma, Jungma and Hama—in Haenam County, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. Its 2014 hybrid project combined solar, wind, lithium-ion storage and existing diesel generation for 92 households/about 250 residents. Contemporary sources conflict between design/as-built stages: 120 kW PV, 30 kW wind and about 1.2 MWh storage appear in research documentation, while the commissioning announcement reports 140 kW PV and 60 kW wind. Later vendor material lists still another enlarged configuration, so these figures are retained with dates rather than merged.

Research status
Renewable supply began September 18, 2014 and academic reporting describes regular operation from November 2014. A national audit later found that the analog diesel plant could not coordinate with the renewables/ESS, forcing continuous diesel operation and curtailing 32.2% of potential renewable output. A KEPCO KDN-led EMS retrofit subsequently reported renewable utilization rising from 26% to 72.4%. The latest asset-specific equipment/configuration material found indicates an operating hybrid system after the retrofit, but no 2022–2026 production, availability, battery-health or retirement record was found; current continuous operation therefore remains unverified.
Historical classification
Island
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
34.45469, 126.41795
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Samma Island?

6 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Haenam County / Jeollanam-do

Public community/project host for the Samma-do island energy installation. [2][5]

Organization

InCell

ESS supplier identified in a Korean battery-industry project reference. [9]

Organization

KEPCO

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

KEPCO KDN

Lead of the later EMS-improvement consortium that addressed renewable curtailment and diesel coordination; it should not be confused with proof that KEPCO built or owned the original system. [6]

Organization

TIS Co., Ltd.

Controls/EMS vendor whose project reference lists a later Samma Island equipment configuration. [7]

Organization

Wonkwang Electric Power Corporation

Company identified in the commissioning report as the project builder/participating contractor. [2]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

2014 research/as-designed configuration
120 kW solar PV, 30 kW wind, 150 kW ESS power-conversion capacity and approximately 1,200–1,231 kWh of storage, serving an average load reported at 49 kW. The pre-existing internal-combustion fleet was reported at 720 kW in one technical table. [4][8]
2014 commissioning report
140 kW solar plus 60 kW wind, for up to 200 kW of renewable supply, with three existing diesel units retained as backup. This likely reflects final or expanded scope but the source does not reconcile it to the 120/30 kW research configuration. [2]
Later vendor-listed configuration
TIS lists 205 kW PV, 40 kW wind, 200 kW PCS, a 1.2 MWh lithium battery and two diesel generators. The page does not date or explain the modifications, so this is treated as a later reference configuration rather than retroactively replacing the 2014 ratings. [7]
Community scale
92 households and about 250 residents at commissioning; the project covers three associated islets, not an island with a similarly romanized name elsewhere in Korea. [2][8]
Cost
A contemporary design report gives KRW 3.34 billion; a later article discussing the audit cites KRW 5.3 billion, apparently for a broader/final scope. No final audited reconciliation was found. [3][5]
Post-retrofit energy mix
KEPCO KDN's sustainability case reports solar 24%, wind 2% and diesel 74%, with renewable utilization increasing from 26% to 72.4%. These are retrofit case-study values, not a 2026 annual generation audit. [6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Solar PV

Model not publicly disclosed

120 kW in design/academic documentation, 140 kW in the commissioning report and 205 kW in a later EMS-vendor reference; module and inverter models were not found. [4][2][7]

02

Wind generation

Model not publicly disclosed

30 kW in design documentation, 60 kW at commissioning and 40 kW in a later reference. Turbine manufacturer/model and the reason for the changing totals remain undisclosed. [4][2][7]

03

Battery energy storage

InCell

Approximately 1.2 MWh lithium-ion storage; initial PCS was reported at 150 kW and a later EMS reference at 200 kW. Exact cell chemistry/model and replacement history were not found. [9][8][7]

04

Diesel generation

Model not publicly disclosed

Existing analog internal-combustion generation, reported as three units/720 kW in early documentation and two generators in the later vendor configuration. [2][8][7]

05

Energy management system

KEPCO KDN consortium / TIS

A later digital EMS/PCS-control retrofit coordinated diesel, storage and variable renewables; public materials do not establish one definitive commercial product name. [6][7]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Original control failure

    The Korean audit found the older analog diesel equipment could not communicate with the ESS and renewable controls. Diesel therefore ran continuously and 32.2% of available renewable production was lost, meaning the project did not initially achieve its intended diesel-displacement performance. [5][8]

  • Retrofit outcome

    KEPCO KDN later claimed the improved EMS increased renewable utilization from 26% to 72.4%, reduced diesel use by 41,532 litres per year and avoided about 140 tonnes of carbon annually. These figures are provider-reported and no independent measurement protocol was published in the source. [6]

  • Annual demand estimate

    A contemporary report estimated annual electricity use at about 388,000 kWh. No recent load growth or customer-count data were located. [3]

  • Identity/current-data gap

    This record concerns Samma-do in Haenam, not KEPCO's better-documented Gasa Island demonstration. Public searches found no recent island-specific operator report, making 2026 status, renewable share and equipment condition uncertain. [2][6]

Provenance

9 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Samma-do energy-independent island project

    Channel A · Secondary research

  4. [4]
    Field study of the Samma-do convergence energy system

    AURIC academic database · Primary source

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
    KEPCO KDN Sustainability Report 2020

    KEPCO KDN · Primary source

  7. [7]
    Samma Island EMS project reference

    TIS Co., Ltd. · Primary source

  8. [8]
    Korean island microgrid development report

    Incheon Institute report repository · Primary source

  9. [9]
    InCell ESS project reference: Samma-do

    New Energy Information / InCell · Primary source

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