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Asia / Island & remote community

Ulleung Island Microgrid

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

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations8
System facts16
Sources reviewed10
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The widely announced Ulleung-do energy-independent island project was never completed. The 2014-2016 concept went through a major redesign—from a fuel-cell-heavy portfolio to one dominated by geothermal—but economics deteriorated after the government changed its power-purchase support and public acceptance of geothermal collapsed after the 2017 Pohang earthquake. Gyeongsangbuk-do formally abandoned the KRW 268.5 billion program in 2018 after approximately KRW 11.6 billion had been spent, and the special-purpose company was subsequently liquidated. Planned generation and storage capacities are therefore design targets, not installed assets.

Research status
Cancelled/abandoned in 2018; project company liquidated. No evidence that the proposed renewable microgrid was commissioned.
Historical classification
Island
Reported capacity
11 MW
Coordinates
37.48442, 130.90580
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 Ulleung Island Microgrid?

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

Organization

Dohwa Engineering

Engineering/EPC participant under an approximately KRW 34.48 billion contract; later reported termination of a remaining approximately KRW 31.7 billion contract. [8][9]

Organization

Gyeongsangbuk-do Province

Public sponsor and participant in the 2014 memorandum; announced the project's termination in 2018. [3]

Organization

KEPCO

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

Organization

Korea Electric Power Corporation

Utility participant in the development consortium/special-purpose company. [3][8]

Organization

LG CNS

Lead private developer and contracting counterparty; its financial statements record the liquidation dividend from Ulleungdo Natural Energy Co. [3][4][9]

Organization

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

National energy ministry whose 2016 support-policy change undermined the planned project economics. [3]

Organization

Ulleung County

Host local government and participant in the project special-purpose company. [3][8]

Organization

Ulleung Enerpia / Ulleungdo Natural Energy Co.

Special-purpose project company, formed for the island program and later liquidated. [3][4]

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.

KW Solar
1000 [1]
KW Wind
8000 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
18500 [1]
KW Fuel Cell
23000 [1]
KW Hydro
700 [1]
Storage
36500 mWh [1]
Original 2015-2016 design portfolio
0.7 MW hydro, 1 MW PV, 8 MW wind, 4 MW geothermal, 23 MW fuel cell and 37 MWh ESS — Planning presentation values only. The portfolio was marketed as a 100% renewable island even though the fuel source and renewable status of the 23 MW fuel-cell block were not clearly substantiated. [5]
Revised design
12 MW geothermal plus staged solar, wind, small hydro and ESS — The 23 MW fuel-cell component was removed and the geothermal block tripled. The revised plan still did not reach construction/commissioning. [6][7][10]
Planned energy-storage capacity
37 MWh — No public source reviewed identifies a power rating, chemistry, supplier or installed system. This remains a cancelled design figure. [5]
Program budget
KRW 268.5 billion planned; about KRW 11.6 billion spent before cancellation — Program window had been described as 2015-2026. [3]
Legacy island diesel generation
approximately 18.5 MW reported in project-era material — Incumbent island supply context, not equipment installed by the cancelled renewable project; current unit status and exact capacity require operator confirmation. [5]

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

Planned renewable generation and storage equipment (not installed)

Model not publicly disclosed

Public plans give technology-level capacities but do not establish selected manufacturers, ordered equipment, or commissioned assets. No cancelled design capacity should be represented as operating equipment. [3][5][6]

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.

  • Phase history

    A July 2014 public-private memorandum led to a January 2015 groundbreaking and basic design work by February 2016. The original concept staged renewables and storage ahead of a large fuel-cell component. A 2016 redesign removed the fuel cell, increased geothermal to 12 MW and pushed full renewable supply toward 2025-2026. Those were planning revisions, not completed phases. [3][5][6][10]

  • Why it failed

    Low oil prices and an October 2016 change in central-government PPA/support policy damaged the business case. The 2017 Pohang earthquake then sharply reduced political and public willingness to rely on geothermal, which represented 87.5% of projected generation in the revised plan. Staff were withdrawn in October 2018 and liquidation followed. [3]

  • Corporate close-out evidence

    LG CNS's 2021 consolidated statements show a zero carrying interest in Ulleungdo Natural Energy Co. and disclose recovery of a KRW 4.666 billion liquidation dividend in the prior year, corroborating that the special-purpose vehicle was wound up rather than left as an active developer. [4]

  • Data-quality caution

    Project-era presentations and news reports frequently describe planned capacities in the present tense. They should be labeled proposed/cancelled. The initial 23 MW fuel-cell-heavy design and revised 12 MW geothermal design are alternatives across time, not additive components of one plant. [3][5][6]

Provenance

10 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]
    Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  3. [3]
  4. [4]
  5. [5]
    Eco-Friendly Energy Independent Island Solution

    Asia Clean Energy Forum / LG CNS · Primary source

  6. [6]
  7. [7]
  8. [8]
  9. [9]
  10. [10]

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