KEPCO's Growing Prestige
Utility giant wins the Edison Award for outstanding managerial achievement

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has won the internationally prestigious Edison Award for outstanding managerial achievement, the public electricity company said Wednesday.
Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which started giving the award in 1922, said the Korean utility provider received the award this year because it successfully transformed the country's electric power voltage from 110 volts to 220 volts as of last year.
U.S.-based EEI is made of 252 international and U.S. electric companies and industry associates. KEPCO received the coveted prize once before in 1997, three years after it was given to companies outside the United States.
This 30-year project, that was effectively completed in 2005, changed the voltage levels for 17 million households nationwide. South Korea started raising the voltage of electricity it supplied in the 1970s to cut back on the loss of electricity during transit.
"This feat is noteworthy because even industrialized countries like the United States and Japan have not been able to move in this direction despite benefits," said Jung Tay-ho, the executive vice president. He said a Japanese power company had put up stiff competition to win the 2006 award.
In addition, KEPCO received high managerial marks for completing the world's longest 39-kilometer-long power line, which links an island in the port of Incheon and the city of Siheung on the west coast. The over-water electricity line that was completed in late 2003 uses aluminum cables and 89 support towers, and is capable of bringing in 1.6 million kilowatts from the Yeongheung Island thermal power plant to the mainland.
"Receiving the award is expected to help raise international recognition for KEPCO that is trying to expand its operations abroad," said Jung. He said with capacity reaching limits inside the country, there is a need to go abroad. The executive said efforts were underway to win rights to provide electric power service abroad before 2015.
Other than South Korea, only a handful of countries including Canada, Britain, Japan and Switzerland have received the award.
The Edison Award, meanwhile, was presented by EEI Chairman Michael Morris to KEPCO CEO Han Joon-ho in Washington.
KEPCO's STRONG PRESENCE AT HOME AND ABROAD. The Korea Electric Power Corp. has played a leading role behind Korea's economic strides by supplying a cheap electricity.
Capitalizing on the experiences and the expertise KEPCO has acquired at home, the Korean utility has expanded its overseas presence.
In the latest of its efforts to diversify its overseas markets, KEPCO has taken over two large power plants in Lebanon to make inroads into the energy market in the Middle East and Africa, the company said recently.
The power company set up a local subsidiary, KEPCO Lebanon S.A.R.L(KELECO) in Beirut to undertake the deal involving the two power plants, which are large enough to supply half of the power needs in Lebanon.
KEPCO plans to engage in other phases of the energy supply operation such as those in the areas of power distribution, repair of power plant facilities and communication in an effort to diversify its business scope.
Chairman and CEO of KEPCO Han Joon-ho held the launching ceremony for its subsidiary in Beirut on May 16 with Lebanese government officials and Korean residents in the Middle East country attending. The Korean power company took over the two power plants in Lebanon in December last year in a deal with the Lebanese government. The two power plants to be run on operation and maintenance basis have a power generation capacity of 435 MW each, supplying half of the electricity demand in the Middle East country. The Korean energy giant paid $85.5 million for the right to manage the power plants for five years and repair them.
KEPCO President Han said the company has secured a bridgehead to advance into the power generation market in the Middle East rich with oil dollars due to high oil prices. KEPCO has been put into a good strategic position to make further inroads into the Lebanese power industry with the Lebanese government planning to privatize its power industry.
KEPCO decided to take over the operation rights of the power plants because their power loss rates related to power distribution were lower than other countries. The power plants in Lebanon sustained the power distribution loss rates of 45 percent due to damage to its power distribution facilities from Israeli bombings. KEPCO's power loss rate stands at 4.4 percent.
Lebanon imports electricity from Syria due to the power shortages, although the country has 10 power plants.
In the meantime, KEPCO is building a 200-MW coal-fired power plant in Cebu, the Philippines. The project is the third one that the Korean power company is undertaking in the Southeast Asian country, following 650-MW Malaya and 1,200-MW Ilijan plant projects.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the planned base load power plant in Cebu took place in Cebu on Dec. 16 last year with 600 Korean and Philippine people attending. Dignitaries included KEPCO Chairman & CEO Han Joon-ho, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Lee Hee-bum, and Philippine Energy Minister P.M. Lottilla.
The 200-MW(100 MW x two units) circulating fluidized bed combustion power plant is to be completed lby the first half of 2009 at cost of about $330 million. KEPCO has 60 percent stake in KEPCO Cebu Corp., a joint venture with Singapore-based Salcon Power Corp. The power plant will secure coal from Indonesia, if its domestic supply is not enough.
Electricity from the plant will be sold to local distributors and large-scale clients and power trade exchange, WESM. On the same day, KEPCO signed an MOU to acquire a 30-percent stake in Naga Power Plant , owned by Salcon Power Corp.. The Korean utility company will spend some 57 billion won to acquire its stake and participate in the operation of the Naga Power Plant with a capacity of 200,000 kW.
Earlier KEPCO signed an MOU with the Philippine government to raise the capacity of the Ilijan Power Plant from the current 1.25 million kW to 1.85 million kW. The power plant is located on Luzon Island, the largest island in the Philippines. The Ilijan project is being constructed under a BOT(build, operate, transfer) agreement for 25 years from March 1999, including three years of construction period. KEPCO's power generation capacity is likely to increase from the current 1.85 million kW to 2.85 million kW between 2008 and 2009. boosting its market share of the electricity market to 18.9 percent from the current 12.3 percent. nw

KEPCO Chairman & CEO Han Joon-ho receives the Edison Award from EEI Chairman Michael Morris.