Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPO) is firing on all cylinders to expand its business environs abroad by securing a foothold in the Southeast Asian region. 

KOSPO and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) jointly organized a workshop on combined cycle power in Hanoi on July 3. The participants from the Korean side consisted of officials from KOSPO, recognized for acquiring the technologies for the operation and maintenance of combined cycle power plants, and Samsung Techwin, known for the production and maintenance of gas turbines, while Deputy Minister Tran Viet Thanh of the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and officials from the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN) and PV Power were among those from the Vietnamese side.  

In New Delhi three days later, the Korean power company signed an MOU on the development of coal-fired power plants with Pratibha Group of India.

KOSPO is studying ways of making inroads into the business of enhancing the efficiency of power equipment in Vietnam, based on the outcomes of a survey of power facilities the company and the MOST jointly conducted last month.

To this end, KOSPO is now in talks with PV Power, a subsidiary power company of PVN, with which the Korean power company signed an MOU during the workshop. 

The workshop served as an opportunity for KOSPO and Samsung Techwin to present to the Vietnamese side their expertise and experiences on the operation and maintenance of combined cycle power plants as well as technologies related to the production of hot path compartments for gas turbines and recycling. The Vietnamese side gave lectures on the trends of the Vietnamese power market, future power plant construction plans, and ways of promoting technology collaboration between Korea and Vietnam. 

Currently, Vietnam’s MOST is paying a keen attention to advanced technology related to gas turbines for the purpose of enhancing management efficiency of combined cycle power plants and is seeking to take its cues from Korea, which relies on combined cycle power for 25 percent of its power facility capacity, as a example country for benchmarking.

KOSPO President & CEO Lee Sang-ho said, “It is significant not only to let this workshop serve as an opportunity for Korea to take an example practice of combined cycle power operation and maintenance and localization of hot compartments for gas turbines to explain how Korea has acquired technology and operated power plants efficiently in the power industry, but also for Vietnam to make it a forum of discussion on how to create a win-win model in Vietnam.”

The MOST deputy minister called for Vietnam’s collaboration on power unit operation technology with KOSPO, saying that this cooperation was the first such step to advance Vietnam’s power operation and maintenance technology.

AN ENTRY INTO INDIA’S POWER MARKET 

KOSPO has teamed up with the Pratibha Group of India to explore the Indian coal-fired power generation market. 

Pratibha, one of India’s biggest textile companies, headquartered in the Indian state of Gujarat, is seeking to branch out the in chemical and energy fields. 

Under the MOU, Pratibha will be responsible for obtaining licenses, permits, and financing as the biggest stakeholder in the project to develop a 270 MW coal-fired power plant in Gujarat, while KOSPO will take a stake in the project and take charge of operation and maintenance. 

In a document released recently to the National Assembly Knowledge Economy Committee, KOSPO said it is striving to aggressively explore overseas power markets, shifting its paradigm from the conventional method of offering technology consulting to that of a stake investment holder. KOSPO is seeking to develop three thermal power projects and four new and renewable projects in foreign markets during this year. The Korean power company is now carrying out a combined cycle power O&M project in Jordan and the Rotem Combined Cycle Power Plant Startup Project in Israel.