KEPCO, Preferred Bidder
on Jordan Power Plant Project

To sign a project financing deal on the construction of a 373,000 kW-class combined cycle plant

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has been selected as the preferred bidder for a project to build and run a power plant in Jordan by outbidding consortia of Japanese, British and U.S. companies.
KEPCO said on July 17 that it became the preferred bidder for the construction and operation of the Al Quatrana gas combined cycle plant, some 100 km south of Amman, the capital of Jordan. The $500 million project calls for the construction of a 373,000 kW-class gas combined cycle plant in a BOO (Build-Own-Operate) method and the operation of the plant for 25 years until 2035. KEPCO said it will ink a contract on the project by May 2009 before the project breaks ground. The projected plant will go into commercial operation on August 25, 2011.
KEPCO will have a 65 percent interest in the project and it will jointly own a locally incorporated company with Xenel of Saudi Arabia, raising funds in a project financing deal with such financial institutions as Korea Exim Bank and IBRD.
Lotte E&C will participate in the project as an EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor in charge of plant design, construction and start-up operation, while an OM (Operation & Maintenance) company, to be jointly established by KEPCO and Korea Sothern Power Co. (KOSPO), will be in charge of the operation and maintenance of the planned power plant.
KEPCO's selection as a preferred bidder in the Al Quatrana project represents a major feat, as it has been 12 years since it was awarded the Ilijan project in the Philippines in 1996. It is significant since it not only entered the Middle Eastern market for the first time in its history, but also because it outbid such heavyweight consortiums as AES/Mitsui, IP/Oger and Mitusbishi/Gama.
Earlier, KEPCO and the ENKA Group of Turkey agreed to establish a $10 billion joint venture to bid for a contract to build Turkey's first nuclear power plants, raising the possibility that KEPCO, now a 30-year veteran of the construction and operation of nuclear power plants, could make an inroad into the Turkish nuclear power plant market, KEPCO officials said.
KEPCO said on May 16 that it signed the Joint Development Agreement to win contracts to build nuclear power plants in Turkey. The Turkish government reportedly plans to determine by December the winner of a contract for the construction of a 5,000 MW-class nuclear power unit by 2015. ENKA Group has the country's largest construction company and the biggest power-generating companies as affiliates. It has built nearly half of Turkey's thermal power plants currently in operation.
BRISK OVERSEAS PROJECTS
KEPCO inked an MOU with Ukraine's ENERGOATOM on promoting cooperation in the design, launch, operation and technical servicing of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in September 2007. A six-member Ukrainian delegation, including Oleksandr Rybchuk, director general in charge of new business at ENERGOATOM, visited such Korean NPP-related companies as KHNP, KINS, Korea Nuclear Fuel Co. and Doosan Heavy Industries from September 9-15, 2007.
KEPCO's signing of an MOU with ENERGOATOM is designed to materialize collaboration between the two companies following an MOU inked between the Korean and Ukrainian governments in June 2007 when a Korean delegation visited Ukraine.
Earlier, KEPCO teamed up with GE Energy to make a joint entry into overseas markets with the American powerhouse. Ex-KEPCO Chairman-CEO Lee Won-gul and his counterpart, GE Energy President James Suciu, inked the agreement at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on August 7, 2007.
Under the agreement, KEPCO and GE Energy agreed to strengthen the collaboration between the two companies on the implementation of new overseas projects as well as ongoing ones. Within the next two months, the two companies will determine the details of the joint projects they plan to carry out.
The second Korean-Chinese forum on nuclear power, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the Science, Technology and National Defense Industry (COSTIND) in Shanghai on April 24, 2007, offered in-depth discussions on the development of the Korean and Chinese nuclear power industries. It was organized on the Korean side by KEPCO and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. and on the Chinese side by China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. (CGNPC).
The forum, designed to exchange information on the overall status of the Korean and Chinese nuclear power industries, was held two years after the inaugural forum was held in Seoul on June 23, 2005, according to an agreement reached in December 2004 between the visiting MOCIE minister and his Chinese counterpart.
Korea has been aggressively striving to enter the Chinese nuclear power market, which is projected to grow in the years to come to meet the skyrocketing demand for power.
KEPCO has been recognized for its excellent project management capabilities and world-class electricity production technology prowess, as it has successfully implemented projects in such countries as China, the Philippines, Lebanon and Nigeria since the mid 1990s. nw

ELECTRICITY AT HIGH PEAK. Minister of Knowledge and Economy inspects an electricity distribution center of Korea Electric Power Corp during a tour designed to find ways prevent natural disasters on June 28. Korea's electricity demand set a record high of 62.79 million kW on July 15, surpassing the previous high set on July 9.