Korea East-West Power wins top prize at 2026 innovative products public procurement competition

Korea East-West Power won the grand prize in the public institution category at the 2026 Innovative Products Public Procurement Competition, held Thursday at the Seoul Regional Office of the Public Procurement Service. The award was a commendation from the deputy prime minister and Minister of Economy and Finance.

The competition is held to identify and share best practices among public institutions and innovative companies that have helped small and medium-sized enterprises secure early market access for their technologies and products, contributing to improvements in public services.

This year, six public institutions that passed a preliminary screening made final-round presentations and were evaluated on-site by a panel of expert judges and 20 members of a public review committee.

Korea East-West Power built the "3S-UP Platform" — covering planning capability (Skill), commercialization (Start) and market development (Scale) — to provide full-cycle support for SME innovative products, from planning and research and development through field demonstration and market entry, lowering barriers for small companies seeking to enter the power generation market.

The company also shortened its technology market review cycle from quarterly to monthly and became the first in South Korea to introduce an AI-based public procurement verification system, boosting the efficiency and reliability of procurement administration. Over the past five years, it purchased 43.8 billion won ($32.2 million) worth of innovative products in the power generation market, opening early sales channels for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The company also leveraged KOTRA and overseas infrastructure to support 98.5 billion won in overseas market development for those firms.