South Korea announces draft amendments related to energy conservation systems 
In August 2021, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of South Korea issued draft amendments to the “Operational Regulation on Equipment for Efficiency Management” to strengthen energy conservation standards and establish medium- to long- term energy efficiency target for equipment including washing machines, electric chillers and heaters, etc. In addition, a draft amendment to the “Enforcement Regulations of Energy Use Rationalization Act” was issued to delete computers and monitors from the items subject to the “Regulation on Promoting the e-Standby Program” and transfer them to the “Operational Regulation on Equipment for Efficiency Management”. Moreover, a draft amendment to the “Regulation on Promotion and Dissemination of High-efficiency Machinery and Equipment” was also announced, which would establish new NOx and CO concentration standards as certification standards for gas heat pumps.
On August 6, 2021, MOTIE issued a draft amendment to the Operational Regulation on Equipment for Efficiency Management in order to strengthen energy conservation standards and establish medium- to long- term target energy efficiency standards for kimchi refrigerators, washing machines and electric chillers and heaters.
- Kimchi refrigerator (scheduled date of implementation: July 1, 2022)
-
- Enhance the energy efficiency rating and minimum energy performance standards (MEPS)
- Set target energy efficiency after three years and six years
- Washing machines (scheduled implementation date: July 1, 2022)
-
- Enhance the energy efficiency rating and MEPS
e.g. Details of MEPS revision for general washing machines
| Classification |
Standard for maximum power consumption |
|
|
Current standard（Wh/kg） |
Proposed amendment（Wh/kg） | |
| Standard washing capacity of 2.0 to 8.0 |
41.0 |
39.8 |
| Standard washing capacity of over 8.0 to 13.0 |
28.0 |
27.2 |
| tandard washing capacity of over 13.0 to 25.0 |
17.0 |
16.5 |
-
- Set target energy efficiency after three years and six years
- Change the description on the label. Currently, the amount of electricity consumed per 1kg is stated, but the draft amendment suggests that both the amount of electricity consumed, and the amount of water used per wash should be stated (the part to be changed: description in the blue boxes on the labels below)
|
Current |
Proposed amendment |
 |
 |
- Electric chillers and heaters (scheduled implementation date: October 1, 2022)
-
- Enhance the energy efficiency rating and MEPS
- Revise the description of energy efficiency rating for cooling and heating, which are currently displayed together as one rating on a label, to be displayed separately (the part to be changed: description in the blue boxes on the labels below)
|
Current |
Proposed amendment |
 |
 |
In addition, on August 17, 2021, the Ministry announced a draft amendment to the Enforcement Regulations of Energy Use Rationalization Act proposing that computers and monitors currently regulated under the Regulation on Promoting the e-Standby Program be transferred to the Operational Regulation on Equipment for Efficiency Management. In other words, computers and monitors will be removed from the list of items subject to the e-Standby program and will be regulated as equipment for efficiency management afterwards.
Furthermore, on August 19, 2021, a draft amendment to the Regulation on Promotion and Dissemination of High-efficiency Machinery and Equipment was announced, and it was clarified that the concentration standards for NOx (<=20ppm (mode value of NOx)) and CO (<=800ppm (mode value of CO)) will be newly established as certification standards for gas heat pumps.
