KDHC Accelerates Efforts to Enter Uzbekistan’s District Heating Market

President Jung Yong-ki of Korea District Heating Corp. (KDHC) (Photos: KDHC)

Korea District Heating Corp. (KDHC) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) toured Uzbekistan from March 12 to 15 and held a meeting with a working-level committee to discuss the execution of a project to modernize the Central Asian country’s district heating.

The project calls for retrofitting Uzbekistan’s old district heating facilities into a Korean-type heating system known as K-heating, based on combined heat and power plant (CHP).

In June 2024, KDHC struck an agreement on the implementation of the project with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Construction, and Public Services with the leaders of the two countries in attendance.

Among those on hand at the committee meeting were Lee Byung-hwi, head of the Business Division at KDHC, Dir.-Gen. Choi Yeon-woo in charge of power at MOTIE, Uzbekistan’s MOE Vice Minister Umid Mamadaminov and MOCHCS Vice Minister Ozoda Jurayeba.

Lee Byung-hwi, head of the Business Division at KDHC, Dir.-Gen. Choi Yeon-woo in charge of power at MOTIE, Uzbekistan’s MOCHCS Vice Minister Ozoda Jurayeba pose for a group photo as they participated in a meeting with a working-level committee to discuss the execution of a project to modernize the modernize the Central Asian country’s district heating.

The participants agreed to cooperate on the introduction of a Korean advanced district heating system and expand Korean companies’ participation.

They had in-depth discussions on Uzbekistan’s energy supply strategies and practice cooperation of both countries, such as the progress of the project following the summit talks, the efficient supply of heat and power, ways of utilizing incineration heat and renewable energies, and ways of offering both countries’ administrative and financial support to execute the project.

Following the committee meeting, MOTIE presided over a meeting with a public consultation committee designed to invigorate the private sector’s exports, along with the Korean Embassy in Uzbekistan, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Korea Eximbank.

The meeting worked out steps to help Korean companies expand exports in CHP power generation, boiler, heat transport pipe and other machinery and equipment sectors, ICT-based smart heating technologies, such as energy management systems and smart meter and renewable energy-based eco-friendly heating solution sectors.

KDHC President Jung Yong-ki said, “The project is not only strengthening diplomatic cooperative relations between the two countries, but also to KDHC and Korean companies, it is designed to revitalize the Korean economy through entry into a new foreign market, and to Uzbekistan’s people, a new global project designed to solve an unstable energy supply through K-heating.”

KDHC will do its utmost to secure its global competitiveness and enter new markets, he said.

Meanwhile, KDHC inaugurated the Uzbekistan K-Heating Project Taskforce, headed by KDHC President Jung.

The corporation has dispatched an overseas team comprising of expertise manpower to Uzbekistan to put overseas market entry of K-heating back on the track with a sense of responsibility and in a fast fashion.

KDHC Rated ‘Excellent Grade’ 3rd Straight Year, Surpassing Govt’ ERRS Goals

Korea District Heating Corp. exceeded quantitative goals at the 2024 Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS) Project Evaluation and earned the rating “excellent grade” in the non-quantifiable category three years in row.

EERS is a regime in which energy suppliers implement efficiency improvement projects to help customers promote energy conservation. The government sets energy conservation goals of KHDC, Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Gas Corp. and evaluates their annual performances.

In 2024, KDHC implemented seven EERS projects designed to promote customers’ efficient and economical heating, such as pressure difference control valve repair support, automatically-controlled conservation mode installation support and hot temperature insulation replacement. KDHC became the first energy supplier to save 25,184Gcal, surpassing the government’s goal of conserving 25,184Gcal, saving customers’ heating costs worth an estimated 3 billion won.

KDHC took steps to make customers familiar with the project, such as simplifying application procedures, raising support money, expanding recipients and more one-on-one consultation meetings.

The corporation is evaluated to have fulfilled its public entity’s responsibility by taking care of matters that are not included in the evaluation categories, as the corporation went the extra mile to ease the burden of the marginalized bracket people by including rental apartment residents in the scope of support recipients.

In 2025, KDHC called the Customer Energy Efficiency Project as “Burden↓, Warmness↑ and KDHC Efficiency↑” and the corporation is accepting applicants until Nov. 30.

KDHC President Jung said, “KDHC does not rest on the laurel of being designated as an excellent institution in the EERS evaluation for the third straight year, and we will proactively support the improvement of heating devices in backward areas so that customers can practically sense a difference and spearhead into efforts to raise national energy utilization efficiency rate.”