[Digital Today reporter Daegeon Seok] A private renewable energy operator has built power generation assets on the scale of a single nuclear power plant. Bright Energy Partners (BEP) said on June 9 it has secured renewable energy assets totaling 1.3 GW, combining solar power and battery energy storage systems (BESS).

It achieved the milestone about 5 years after launching operations in 2020. Its cumulative generation assets surpassed 100 MW in 2022, 300 MW in the first quarter of 2024, 500 MW in the fourth quarter of that year and 700 MW in the third quarter of 2025. Growth then accelerated, pushing it past 1 GW in the first half of 2026, and the asset scale has more than doubled over the past 2 years. It is currently developing more than 1 GW more.

The core of BEP's generation assets is large-scale solar plants, including 90 MW in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, and 55 MW in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province. It directly owns and operates more than 500 plants nationwide, accumulating permitting, grid and operational data. The company said it directly manages the entire process from design and construction to commercial operation and works with global due diligence firms to comply with quality and safety, health and environmental standards.

Its BESS business is also expanding rapidly. BEP formed a consortium with Korea Southern Power in the Korea Power Exchange-run central contract market for ESS and won 4 bids in a row, securing orders totaling 233 MW. That accounts for about 20 percent of the total awarded volume in the market, an unusual scale for a private power generation developer. BEP cut project costs by sharing grid interconnection facilities from existing solar plants for BESS and is working with LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On.

It also ranks at the top level domestically in signing power purchase agreements (PPAs). BEP has signed PPAs totaling 280 MW over the past 2 years, equivalent to about 10 percent of Korea's total PPA signings based on the Korea RE100 Council.

BEP is also preparing a clean energy retail business model in anticipation of power retail market liberalisation, alongside expanding long-term power supply contracts for RE100 companies. It is also operating the 'Water' EV fast-charging network centred on highways, as it works to build an integrated renewable energy ecosystem.

Kim Hee-sung (김희성), chair of Bright Energy Partners, said, "This is the result of a process of creating economies of scale by tying scattered assets into a single platform." He said, "Rapidly expanding solar power and BESS is the most urgent task right now."