Khmelnytskoblenergo, South Korea's KT Corporation to cooperate on smart grid technologies

According to the press release, starting from November 30, Khmelnytskoblenergo will have numerous video meetings with South Korea's KT Corporation. A Task Force unit, recently formed by the two companies, will have extensive discussions, workshops, webinars and round tables this whole week. Those activities are meant to be the first big step in the realization of the Memorandum of Understanding, signed by KT Corporation and Khmelnytskoblenergo on September 7, 2020.

The signing of this document was accompanied by the subsequent signing of the MOU by KT Corporation and the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine on October 30.

According to the Memorandum, the two companies (KT Corporation and Khmelnytskoblenergo) intend to collaborate in developing an advanced metering infrastructure project in Ukraine. In order to do that, the companies formed a joint Task Force unit, consisting of qualified staff of both parties. The two companies' specialists have been in close contact via multiple channels since then and the first intensive workshop is to take place this week.

"We have been in close weekly contact with the Korean side for about a half a year or so and we are grateful for their input," said Oleg Kozachuk, acting CEO of Khmelnytskoblenergo. "Being the first electricity distribution system operator in Ukraine, getting to know the technologies KT Corporation uses is very insightful, to say the least."

Sangki Lee, Vice President of KT's Global Business Unit said that KT has been exploring various ways to enhance energy efficiency within the Ukrainian energy industry through cooperation with Khmelnytskoblenergo. In particular, KT plans to actively contribute to the improvement of energy efficiency in Ukraine by applying energy management technology that uses AI and big data.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the two companies have made meaningful progress through weekly video meetings, and KT plans to formulate the detailed business direction through due diligence and related feasibility studies, in the near future.

Khmelnytskoblenergo is a majority state-owned electricity distribution service operator (DSO) in Khmelnytskyi region in Ukraine. Some 70% of the company's shares belong to the state, and the other 30% belong to private legal entities and individuals. The company's net profit in 2019 amounted to UAH 85.7 million, which is more than the profit of all state-owned energy companies in Ukraine combined. Dividends on the state share for 2019 amounted to about UAH 30 million.

KT Corp., Korea's largest telecommunications service provider, is leading the new era of innovations in one of the world's most connected countries with 5G, Big Data, Cloud, IoT, Blockchain and other transformative technologies.

KT launched the world's first nationwide commercial 5G network in April 2019, after showcasing the first trial 5G services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February 2018. To help cope with COVID-19, KT is staging a social campaign, dubbed "Ma-Eum:TACT (Heart to Heart)", providing technology supports for people and businesses in need. KT will deliver most essential and innovative services and solutions to its customers around the world as the first frontier in the next technology revolution and number one Global ICT Company.

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