Korea Midland Power Co. won the Excellence Award during the International 

Convention on QC circles that took place in Taipei from Oct.

Korea Midland Power Co. (KOMIPO) was awarded the presidential award at the Korea National Quality Awards ceremony at the 39th National Quality Management Convention at the KEPCO headquarters in Seoul on Nov. 28, as the power company’s QC circles won five gold medals, four silver medals and one bronze medal — the biggest achievement of the contest— at the 39th National QC Circles Competition in Jeonju. Korea Midland Power Co.’ QC circle “Ecomania” also won the Excellence Award during the International Convention on QC circles that took place in Taipei from Oct. 22-25.

KOMIPO is one of the nation’s six power subsidiaries of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), which accounts for 10.2 percent of the nation’s total power generation capacity with five power plants in operation in Korea, including the Seoul Thermal Power Complex and the Boryeong Thermal Power Complex. The company is also eager to strengthen its presence overseas, as it has built and has been operating the Girebon power plant in Indonesia. It is the first time Korea has exported its own ultra super-critical pulverized coal thermal power plant overseas. 

KOMIPO chalked up 5.46 trillion won in sales by churning out a combined 52.3 billion kWh during the whole of 2012.

KOMIPO has built quality management infrastructure by integrating the ISO 9001 quality management system and the ISO 14001 environment management system, and it has become the first Korean power company to introduce an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) management information system.

KOMIPO has so far activated 111 quality circles to ensure the stable operation of power facilities and cut down on power generation unit prices. These efforts have paid off: KOMIPO’s quality circle has won the presidential award for the 12th consecutive year, the coveted Excellence Awards of an international quality management competition for the seventh straight year, and other prizes. 

This past September, KOMIPO unveiled its new vision “Global Top-class Energy Co” and established the “Vision 2025 Management Strategy,” calling for pursing outward growth through facility and sales expansion, but also maintaining qualitative growth through the strengthening of safety and ethical management with the goal of becoming a world-class public energy entity. In this vein, KOMIPO will strive to secure the top 10 core technologies in three business areas — next-generation thermal power, climate change response, and new & renewable energy. 

World’s Longest LTTF 

One of KOMIPO’s strengths is its excellent plant operation capability. KOMIPO carries out a strict system of preventive maintenance for all facilities, as evidenced by its feat of running the world’s longest long-term trouble-free operation (LTTF). In an unprecedented move, Boryeong Thermal Unit 3, Korea’s first standard coal-fired thermal power plant, set a record of 5,000 consecutive days of trouble-free operation between Dec. 17, 1998 and Sept. 1, 2013. KOMIPO President & CEO Choi Pyeong-rak received certification of the record from Korea Record Institute President Kim Duk-eun at a ceremony at KOMIPO headquarters in Daechi-dong, Seoul, on Dec. 3.

KOMIPO has carried out three major tasks in the area of safety and health aimed at achieving “zero injuries, zero risk, and zero accidents.” 

“We have implemented a disaster safety and health management system to prepare against weather-related injuries and disasters impacting our facilities, thus preventing life- or equipment-threatening incidents. These efforts have paid off with 30 years of zero accidents at the Seoul Thermal Plant and 28 years at the Jeju Thermal Power Plant,” KOMIPO officials said.