BIXPO 2024 kicks off, showcases latest power technologies

On the 6th, visitors explore exhibition booths as the global power and energy industry expo, ‘BIXPO 2024,’ opens at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju. (KEPCO)

South Korea’s state utility Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) held the opening ceremony for its global power and energy industry expo “BIXPO 2024” at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in South Jeolla’s Gwangju on Wednesday.

The ceremony was attended by around 600 people, including International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) President Jo Cops, Vice Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Choe Nam-ho, and Representative of Chung Chin-ook of the Democratic Party of Korea.

The 2024 BIXPO featured a new technology unpacking event for the first time, where eight companies, including Standard Energy Inc., KEPCO, LS Electric Co., and HD Hyundai Electric Co., showcased their innovations.

Standard Energy introduced an energy tile based on vanadium-ion batteries, designed to function as a battery within tiles used as building materials, thereby enabling the construction of energy storage systems.

For its part, FORNATURES displayed a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) system that uses microalgae, which can capture carbon at a rate over 100 times higher than plants.

LS Electric presented an eco-friendly superconducting power system.

Unlike conventional power cables, superconducting cables are smaller in size but have over 10 times the transmission capacity because they maintain near-zero electrical resistance during energy transmission.

The three-day event, which runs until Friday, includes a new technology exhibition, an international conference, and an international invention patent competition, with more than 150 Korean and international companies participating in the new technology exhibition.

KEPCO President Kim Dong-cheol announced the “Direct Current (DC) Vision Declaration” at the opening ceremony, noting that DC offers advantages in efficiency, stability, and eco-friendliness over alternating current (AC), and will play an increasingly important role in the future power industry.

“If we lead the transition from AC to DC power systems, we will be able to secure competitiveness in the global energy market,” he emphasized.

To this end, KEPCO plans to expand DC supply infrastructure, drive technological innovation and standardization, and lead DC supply policies.