22nd World Energy Congress to present new energy technology

The World Energy Congress, the world’s biggest international conference on energy that is also dubbed as the Olympics of energy, will take place in Daegu, Korea from Sunday to next Thursday. This year’s congress will be attended by delegations from over 140 countries including energy officials of ministerial caliber from more than 60 countries. With about 6,000 participants who have already been registered on line, this year’s congress is expected to be the biggest of its history. In addition, CEOs of global energy giants who rarely appear to the public including President Khalid A. Al-Falih of Aramco, a state-owned oil company in Saudi Arabia, are among the speakers.

Energy is one of the greatest challenges that the world faces. 1.3 billion people in developing countries do not have access to the minimum amount of power needed for life. Stable and sustainable sources of energy have not been found yet while climate change poses serious environmental threats to the world. Faced with the so-called "energy trilemma," the energy conference aims to suggest an innovative vision and solutions for energy.

Korea is highly dependent on foreign imports for its energy sources. And there are many challenges that the nation must address, such as social acceptance of nuclear power, imbalance between power supply and demand and high dependence on fossil fuels. For instance, conflicts have been amplified over the construction of a transmission tower in local city Miryang.

LG and Samsung, sponsors of the congress, will throw their hat into the ring of global energy competition in the congress. The Korea booth will feature various new technologies, such as an energy storage system (ESS) that saves energy when the air-conditioning demand is low and uses it during peak hours; smart grid technology that can monitor and control power supply and demand from households and businesses real-time; electric vehicle equipped with hydrogen cells; and technologies related to photovoltaic energy and other new and renewable energy sources. Plant exporters will also converge on the congress. Korea should use this congress as an opportunity to boast of state-of-the-art energy technologies and strengthen its global leadership in developing future direction and policies for energy.