In his New Year's message, Korea East-West Power (EWP) President & CEO Lee Gil-gu stressed that a challenging spirit for proactively exploring for future growth drivers and concentrating energy among staff members are more demanding than ever.

First, Lee said, EWP should attain sustainable growth based on stable profit-making capabilities. "In the past three years during which I have become one of the EWP family, our company has made strides, standing in comparison to world-class firms in terms of high management achievements and technological power. But we cannot rest on our laurels at the current levels, so we have to make a leap to a higher level."

EWP needs to expand its business environs not only to the operation & maintenance (O&M) of the existing power plants, but also to the construction of new power units by making the most of its stable financial standing and accumulated technologies while serving as a locomotive of national economic development through the creation of new jobs by diversifying its business portfolios. 

"Currently, our overseas projects in the United States, the Philippines and Jamaica maintain solid growth, and our new and renewable energy projects, which will likely see growth and profit while coping with climate change, are expected to bear fruit in earnest," Lee said.

Second, he said, EWP should be armed with integrated technological power equivalent to the levels of world-class companies. "EWP's future core capabilities lay in its technological prowess in the power generation field. To this end, securing advanced power generation technologies and the nourishment of world-class manpower is more essential."

"We've gained ground in the fields of developing co-combustion technologies, expanding condition-based maintenance, and executing engineering on our own to ramp up our technological global competitiveness, but we have to make more efforts to square ourselves with global independent power producers (IPPs). 

"The development of green environment technologies designed to cope with climate change and the localization of core parts are also essential tasks to be implemented for the future," Lee said. 

"Staffs' capabilities should be upgraded to levels one notch higher than currently so that our company can become a global company of technology," he said. EWP opened an in-house educational center in Dangjin and inaugurated an overseas expert education course as parts of its efforts to ramp up its staff members' capabilities, and the power company will continue to offer such systematic educational and training regimes. 

Lee noted that such support cannot pay off unless his staff members make efforts on their own, adding that they should concentrate their focus on strengthening their own capabilities through lifetime study, given the reality of humans' extended longevity and the shortened life-span of relevant knowledge. 

EWP plans to revamp its personnel system so that EWP staff members can be fostered as manpower with a comprehensive understanding of operation, design, and maintenance and armed with accumulated technologies. 

Third, he said, EWP will have to devote itself to innovating its corporate culture in a constructive manner. "As our company was put on the list of market-based public enterprises last year, power companies are expected to stage a more fierce competition than before," he said. 

Fourth, he called for ensuring sustainable growth by strengthening EWP's business capabilities. Given the reality that the nation is seeing its electricity demand slowing and the government is implementing policies favoring atomic energy, EWP's growth will depend on expanding new businesses, including overseas projects and new and renewable energy projects. 

EWP is forecast to post a record high of 300 billion won in profit from the operation of overseas businesses in the United States, the Philippines, Haiti and others.

Fifth, he said, EWP will strive to meet its corporate responsibility to society.   nw