KHNP Eyes Global Energy
Leader
- Armed with expertise and experience, the company turns to overseas

The entry of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change not only has promoted nations around the globe to explore ways of cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, but also has rekindled a global keen concern over nuclear power that could lead to the so-called renaissance of nuclear power. Nuclear power has turned out to be the cleanest energy to emit the least greenhouse gasses, responsible for causing global warming during the full energy cycle ranging from mining, nuclear power plant and trial operation.
In Korea, securing a stable supply of energy is an essential issue related to the survival of the nation. Energy self-sufficiency becomes not only one of the government's top policies, but also a national security issue. Korea, a resources-poor nation is vulnerable to a stable supply of energy resources, including crude oil, as the nation depends on the outside for 97 percent of its energy supplies, 75.9 percent of which are imported from the Middle East.
In this backdrop, nuclear power, which accounts for 40 percent of the nation's electricity production, is playing a more significant role than ever before. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) is the largest power utility company in Korea with the operation of all nuclear power units and a series of hydroelectric power plants, which takes a 14 percent share in Korea's hydroelectric power production.
With President-CEO Lee Joong-jae at the helm, KHNP is making all-out efforts to realize a long-term vision of becoming a world-class energy leader. The long-term plan for its leap into a global energy leader by 2020, calls for, among others, securing advanced nuclear power, new energy technologies and strengthening its presence to overseas markets.
KHNP has contributed to the development of the local economy as the power utility is a major supplier of electricity with nuclear power having such economic benefits as the lower percentage of fuel costs standing at just 11 percent and a more stable supply of uranium, the fuel of nuclear power, than other fossil resources. Consumer prices has surged 156 percent since 1983, but electricity prices have inched up 3 percent during the period, thus contributing to curbing price hikes and stabilizing public lives. Considering a rise in energy consumption in the future, electricity demand is forecast to jump by a considerable rate with its 2015 projection reaching 1.5 times as much as the current level.

The Korean power utility company, which ranks sixth globally in terms of nuclear power output, is endeavoring to make a foray into the futuristic new, renewable energy markets like solar and wind power in keeping with the government's policy to diversify environment-friendly energy resources under sustainable development plans. With its focus on solar and tidal powers, KHNP is contemplating a feasibility study on its bid to develop new and renewable energy resources. The company plans to operate a solar power facility on a experimental basis.
KHNP has already demonstrated its prowess to the world by operating a higher capacity factor than any other nuclear power companies. KHNP's percentage of capacity stood at an average of 92.4 percent since 2001, far above the global average of 77 percent.
The average of unplanned automatic shutdowns per unit recorded after 2001, considered to a yardstick for measuring facility reliability, has been lowered to just 0.5 to 0.6, quite lower than 1.3 times for the United States and three times for France. The unplanned shutdown rate refers to the number of times a nuclear unit is shut down each year due to equipment failure on human error. This is another indicator of how well facilities are operated and maintained, and it reflects on overall safety as well as the quality of the electrical power supply.
KHNP has a world-class planned preventive maintenance capacity. In particular, as many as its 10 nuclear units recorded one-cycle-trouble-free(OCTF) during 2004. The Kori Nuclear Power Complex witnessed its all units making the feat simultaneously.
KHNP has been globally recognized with the development of its own technology - the Optimized Power Reactor 1000 (OPR1000) and its updated version, APR1400.
In cooperation with Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), KHNP is trying to exploring overseas markets with its own technology and experiences it have accumulated during its continuous construction of nuclear power plants. It is setting its sights on such countries as China, Romania, Vietnam and Indonesia, who are apparently seeking to take tech transfers. KHNP is working on ways of securing technologies related to treatment of lower- and middle-level radioactive waste.
The company is focusing on the development of new technologies with continuously expanded R&D outlays. KHNP had a higher R&D percentage of 4.3 % in 2204, compared to 1.1 percent for Tokyo Electric Power and 1.4 percent Eletricite de France. KHNP is actively participating in the government-initiated nuclear power technology roadmap projects - the development project of electricity technologies in the nuclear power sector, being pushed by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and NUTRUM, being organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
KHNP is putting more energy into overhauling its operational structure by taking such steps as innovation-oriented corporate culture, cultivation of elite manpower with expertise, and flexible operations based on management responsibility.
The company is targeting raising its local power generation market share to 47.3 percent with its nuclear power generation to 245,881GWh on nuclear power generation capacity of 30,116Mw.
KHNP is accelerating its efforts to spur overseas projects to gain more revenues on top of striving for securing advanced technologies, including new and renewable energy sources. nw