Kepco, LG win U.S. solar energy project

A consortium of Korea Electric Power Corporation and LG CNS won a $200 million solar energy power project from the United States on June 30.

According to Korea’s sole power distributor Tuesday, the consortium was chosen as the final bidder to install an energy storage system and solar power plant to help reduce power outages in Guam.

The project is based on a build-own-operate model wherein the consortium will build and operate the plant for 25 years. The two energy companies will build a 60-megawatt solar energy power plant and an energy storage system with a 42 megawatt per hour capacity in Mangilao in the northeastern part of Guam.

Kepco said the consortium entered the bidding process for the project in October and was chosen as the priority bidder in February.

“We will finalize major contracts such as deals on selling electricity and building plants,” said Choi Choong-kook, a director at Kepco. “We expect we will be able to sell $340 million worth of energy over the 25 years of operations starting from December 2019.”

Kepco added that the project will also help the country’s exports.

“We expect the project to have a nearly 130 billion won ($113 million) impact on Korea’s exports,” said Choi. “This is a great model for Kepco and local energy related companies to enter foreign markets together.” He added that the deal is very meaningful since it is the first time Korean companies have won a project in the United States’ solar energy market.

Meanwhile, Hanwha Energy announced Tuesday that it also won the bidding process to build a solar energy power plant with a 60 megawatt capacity in Guam.

The project is worth about $150 million and the construction will begin in July next year.

BY KIM YOUNG-NAM [kim.youngnam@joongang.co.kr]