LSIS chairman urges ISO to set standards in energy

By Kim Yoo-chul

LSIS Chairman Koo Ja-kyun urged delegates at the ISO General Assembly to establish common standards for global energy as the industry is at a major crossroads for further expansion in the Internet of Things (IoT) and advances in ICT.

“Effectively managing energy has become an issue in all industries and all companies, as our mission is to find new methods of effective energy management,” Koo said in a keynote speech at this year’s International Organization for Standardization (ISO) General Assembly at the Lotte Hotel, downtown Seoul, Wednesday.

The ISO is the world's largest certifier of international standards. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the organization has issued more than 19,500 international standards, carrying far-reaching influence in almost all industries, from technology, to food safety, agriculture and healthcare.

Korea joined the ISO in 1963 and this is the first time for the country to hold the organization's General Assembly.

Under the theme, “The Establishment of International Standards and the Role of Companies,” Koo said all industries are producing standards amid the popularity of connected devices and added the energy industry is hugely affected by changes and improvements in technology.

“If we establish standards in the energy industry, then we will be better positioned to pursue effective energy management within that frame,” Koo said mentioning the boom of renewable resources such as smart grids, a term that has become widely discussed.

The chairman said such phenomena are the results of CO2 emissions mitigation and the fight against global climate change.

“All things are subject to change. When we talk about the future of the energy industry, what stands out is that the main task is to solve the sustainability of energy. The smart grid concept provides one possible way,” the chairman said in his speech.

Koo described the smart the grid concept that complies with the approach to a decentralized power industry, together with stable prices.

Local congestion in the grid as well as the growing amount of consumption ― connected with growth of the market for electric vehicles ― means local micro-generation can result in stable prices.

That results in electricity prices differing, according to local conditions, from prices on the global grid.