Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) plans to formally adopt the Virtual Power Line (VPL), which uses Energy Storage Systems (ESS) and existing grid infrastructure to ease transmission congestion without building new lines. The initiative emerged from eight expert forums jointly operated with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment over approximately five months from April, involving 116 participants from industry, academia, research institutions and government. The ministry’s 2027 budget proposal includes 2.4 billion Korean won, approximately $1.7 million, for VPL projects scheduled to begin in 2027. KEPCO plans to incorporate the approach into national infrastructure planning, including the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, and expand it into a large-scale government-supported program by 2030. The forums also produced grid-forming interconnection standards for centrally contracted transmission-network BESS, with testing and verification for real-grid operation due by November ahead of 2027 deployment. Other initiatives include private ESS demonstrations and market-rule reforms, mandatory links between new apartments’ smart-meter data and KEPCO’s Metering Data Management System, and a community microgrid model using agricultural and forestry byproducts. Discussions with Seoul and Haenam are under way, while the model has attracted approximately 1.5 billion won, or $1.1 million, in new climate-tech investment.