Kwak Byung-sul, head of KOMIPO’s technology division, receives the 2017 Excellent Quality Competitiveness Enterprises Award for the 11th consecutive year. KOMIPO has become the first power company to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.(Photo: KOMIPO)

Korea Midland Power Co. (KOMIPO) was honored with becoming the first Korean power company to be selected as one of the “2017 Excellent Quality Competitiveness Enterprises” for the 11th consecutive year and being inducted as the Hall of Fame. 

KOMIPO is one of the five power companies that were spun off in accordance with the government’s step to restructure the power industry in April 2001. Its major responsibilities include the development of power resources and ensuring a stable supply of power. The power company operates seven thermal power complexes, including the Boryung Thermal Power Complex, one of the nation’s biggest thermal power complexes, and construction headquarters. 

KOMIPO, making continued investments and project development into photovoltaic power, wind power, fuel cells, and other new and renewable energies, also boasts power facilities with a combined capacity of about 17,000MW. 

Accounting for 9 percent of the nation’s total power generation, KOMIPO is one of the nation’s best power companies reputed for playing a leading role in the contributing to economic growth. The power company is implementing management innovation activities to be a leader in the Korean and foreign power industries under the catchphrase “Quality is the Life of Facilities.”

KOMIPO is reputed for raising the standing of the Korean power industry with undisputed quality competitiveness. The power company was one of the winners of the 2014 National Quality Management Grand Prize. It also made it onto the list of Excellent Quality Competitive Enterprises 11 years in a row and the company won the presidential award in the international quality control circle competition.

KOMIPO’s quality management strategies have paid off. Thanks to quality management that focuses on humans and technology, KOMIPO’s Seoul Construction Headquarters logged a record of no disasters for 36 years and 11 months in a row. The third power unit at the Boryung Power Headquarters became the first power company in the world to register an unprecedented trouble-free record for 6,000 straight days, setting an exemplary field case for quality control.

The power company is poised to make a leap forward in the global market. It is implementing a project to build a new power plant with about 2,000MW of capacity, the largest-ever since its founding. It plans to set aside 1.77 trillion won to invest eco-friendly facilities to reduce pollution emission by about 74 percent compared to current levels. 

In an effort to brace for a fast-changing energy paradigm shift ahead of others, KOMIPO is accelerating strategies to work on new and renewal energy research, secure core technologies, and explore foreign business projects. 

KOMIPO strives to make an energy supply shift, calling for investing 15.26 trillion won by 2030 so 20 percent of its total power generation comes from new and renewable energies. In this regard, the power company is working on the 3-Way Project to achieve a target of generating 1GW of photovoltaic power. Given the status of photovoltaic power plants with a lower utilization rate, KOMIPO will focus on large-scale photovoltaic power plants connected with energy storage systems (ESS), water photovoltaic power units and rooftop photovoltaic power units. 

The company is exploring large-scale photovoltaic power projects on idle plots of land, including railway sites. 

Acting KOMIPO President Jang Seong-ik said, “We plan to implement a scientific system management by establishing mid- and long-term quality management strategies down the road and making KOMIPO a reliable and trusted company by aggressively complying with government agendas, including shared growth, integrity and reform.”