The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST; Lee Hyi Seung, Acting President) announced that it will hold the 16th Marine Energy Working Group & Plenary Meetings of the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee (IEC TC 114) over the five days of April 15 to 19, 2024 at the Grand Hyatt Jeju, located in Jeju City, Jeju Island.

IEC TC 114 is the technical committee (TC) on marine energy under the auspices of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) established in 2007 to publish international standards for marine energy technologies, including those related to wave power, tidal currents, and differences in ocean temperature, and to promote the sharing of information and technological development among countries.

* International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC): An international standards organization established in 1906 to promote international cooperation in the development of international standards in the electrical and electronics fields and conformity assessments, among others.

The Plenary Meeting was co-hosted by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS; Jin Jong-wook, President) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Kang Do-hyung, Minister), and co-organised by KIOST and the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering (Hong Key Yong, President), with about 70 experts from 13 member countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and China.

During the meeting, Ko Dong Hui, a senior researcher at KIOST's Ocean Space Development & Energy Research Department, delivered a presentation and proposed new international standards, entitled “Major Accident Hazard Management for the Marine Energy Industry ,” which is expected to define requirements and provide guidelines for effective risk management against major accidents.

Since acceding to the IEC TC 114 in 2018, KIOST has submitted three proposals to establish Korean Standards (KS) in the areas of marine energy terminology, tidal energy output performance evaluations, and tidal energy resource evaluations, and plans to submit three more by 2025 in marine energy design, load measurement, and scale model testing.

KIOST has attended the Plenary Meeting every year since 2018 as head of the Korean delegation. In 2020, Yi Jin-Hak, a senior researcher at KIOST's Department of Ocean Space Development and Energy Research, was awarded the IEC 1906 Award for his contribution to the standardization of marine energy technology.

As a leading research institute in marine energy in Korea, KIOST took part in construction of a 254 MW tidal power station (the world's largest)―the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station―in 2011. In 2009, it built the Uldolmok Tidal Power Station (Korea's first tidal power plant), in Uldolmok, Jindo, Jeollanam-do, and acquired the country's first Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) in the marine energy sector. Furthermore, in 2021, KIOST constructed a building to conduct performance tests of tidal power plant parts at its Busan headquarters. This year, it plans to build a Tidal Power Real Sea Test Site in the waters of Uldolmok.

KIOST’s Acting President, Lee Hyi Seung said, “With the success of this Plenary Meeting, KIOST was able to improve its position in the international community as a leading marine energy research institute. Going forward, we will continue to expand activities for international standardization, and strengthen international cooperation to more effectively implement international standards.”