KEPCO wins 60 million-dollar contract from Dominican Republic

KEPCO wins 60 million-dollar contract from Dominican Republic. November. 06, 2015 12:00. redfoot@donga.com.

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) revealed on Thursday that it has received a 60 million-dollar order (approx. 68 billion Korean won) from Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales to build a network connection in the Dominican Republic. The project that would newly-build and replace the 870-kilometer-long wire is the largest of its size among overseas projects that KEPCO has received up to date.

Having competed with 13 other utilities such as the ones from Spain and Brazil, KEPCO was shortlisted as a preferred bidder. The company will carry out the entire project ranging from designing, purchasing to construction. Upon completing the process for signing the contract, KEPCO will begin the construction and plans to finish the work by 2017.

“Having consecutively received the project orders from the Dominican Republic, KEPCO has proved itself to have the world class technology and operation,” said Cho Hwan-ik, KEPCO’s President and CEO. “This is an opportunity that KEPCO’s business can make its way to every country in the world.”

Prior to this project, KEPCO completed a 51 million-dollar order of network construction project from the Dominican Republic in 2011. Combining the new order, KEPCO has earned some 110 million dollars in sales from the country. The total length of wire reaches to some 2,100 kilometers, five times the round-trip distance between Seoul and Busan.

Up to date, KEPCO has successfully performed transmission and distribution networks projects and consulting projects in 23 nations such as Kazakhstan, India and the Dominican Republic, all of which amounts to some 170 million dollars. The company’s current projects include the ones in 13 different countries such as Nigeria, Cambodia and Pakistan, which translate into 40 million dollars in total. As KEPCO won a 10.54 million-dollar contract of distribution network from India last month along with the newly-received project from the Dominican Republic this time, the total value of its orders this year has exceeded 100 billion won (approx. 88 million dollars) for the first time.

In addition, small and medium sized companies are expected to make some 17.57 million dollars worth of export as they will also take part in the project. Some 57 small and medium sized firms have made export performance of some 208 billion won (approx. 182 million dollars) from KEPCO’s overseas projects since 2001.

On top of the construction project for distribution and transmission network, KEPCO has aggressively pushed forward with the export of electricity IT and new energy industry, both of which are believed to be “blue ocean” in power industry. In July this year, it exported micro grid technology worth of 13 billion won (approx. 11.4 million dollars) to Canada while signing a contract with Regulatory Services Bureau of Dubai, UAE, for smart grid project worth of 3.4 billion won (approx. 3 million dollars) last month. During her visits to Central and South America in April this year, President Park Geun-hye signed seven memorandums of understanding in nuclear power, smart grid, and new renewable energy and distribution networks with Brazil, Columbia, Peru and Chile.