In 2030, a whopping 10 quadrillion electric facility market will be opened. Most of them will be led by the Smart Grid. And, the competition in this market is likely to become fierce since the world is paying attention it. This is referred to the blue ocean. However, it is soon to be the red ocean with the fierce competition. Therefore, many experts emphasize that the thorough preparation should be made.Even non-electric facility companies have their eye on.Recently, traditionally non-electric facility companies have announced the entry to the Smart Grid market one after another. IBM announced the participation into the IntelliGrid, the next generation electric grid project led by the US Electric Power Research Institute, during the Gridweek 2008 held in Washington DC from September 22. The IntelliGrid is a program to develop technology and methodology for the Smart Grid. IBM is told to have interest in the interactive system between energy companies and electric facility companies.Prior to this, Google decided to work with GE to promote the government’s investment in the support for renewable energy. Google tries to focus on the plug-in connection of electric grid to electric facility or distributed power.As such, companies are flooding into the Smart Grid since it includes everything about electricity like communications, networks, infrastructure, applications and distribution of electricity. Intel is also interested in the electricity semiconductors relevant to the Smart Grid for the same reason. Google is interested in the Smart Grid as it needs a myriad amount of electricity to operate the world’s biggest server farm. The grid should be compatible with electricity generated from geothermal power plants or wind farms that it has invested to help it save the cost.Historical giants are also preparingHistorical electric facility companies are also investing in the Smart Grid. On September 16, the Gridwise Alliance, an organization of companies and institutions interested in the conversion of the existing power grid to the Smart Grid, announced its new 15 members: the US-based companies like Elster and VELCO; Canada’s British Columbia Technology Institute and BC Hydro; and Électricité de France.In the Europe, ABB and Siemens are major players in the Smart Grid. ABB opened a large-scale showroom for the Smart Grid in the IEEE conference in April to exhibit the intelligent distribution, transformers and other products for the Smart Grid. In Japan, Tokyo Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power and Mitsubishi Electric are accelerating the research on the Smart Grid.Preparation for Fierce CompetitionThe current interest in the Smart Grid, particularly in the US market comes from the possibility that the first dominator of the market is likely to continue its leadership in the market due to the focus on the stability in the electric facility market. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy also said in July, “Error in electric grid can cause a tremendous damage. Therefore, products should be reliable and trustable. In this business, advanced countries are leading the technology while late comers are chasing up.” Also, the lifecycle of a product usually maintains 15~20 years so that the speed of change in technology is not fast. The international standard is set by advanced countries like the US and Japan.However, many experts said that Korea has a capability to expand its shares in the business even in the fierce competition. There is a consensus that only the US, the EU, Japan and Korea have competitive technology in this field. Kwon Young-han, chairman of Electric IT Business Commission, said, “The investment in the electric IT business has led to the technology development since 2005. Therefore, the level of technology for the Smart Grid in Korea is almost equivalent to that of advanced countries.” Kim Moon-sik, director of the Electric Industry Promotion Association, said, “The International Climate Change Agreement as well as the development of information and technology are driving the creation of new technology like environment-friendly technology, high voltage technology, compact technology as well as the IT convergence system. These are highly capable for driving the growth of the national economy.”