Korea Electric, ECG sign partnership deal
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Korea’s electricity company, aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation between the two parties in the electricity sector.
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Under the agreement, the two are to exchange information on the electricity sector, as well as share knowledge in the fields of integration of renewable energy resources and electricity storage systems.
The ECG and KEPCO are also to exchange technology in the fields of supervisory control and data acquisition, advanced metering infrastructure, loss reduction, geographic information systems, distribution automation systems, among other area.
The Managing Director of the ECG, Mr Robert Dwamena, signed on behalf of the ECG, while the Vice-President and Chief Global Business Officer of KEPCO, Mr Bong–soo Ha, initialled for the corporation.
The KEPCO generates, transmits and distributes electricity to the Republic of Korea for a variety of uses. It also builds and operates hydro, thermal and nuclear power units in South Korea.
The company was ranked first in electricity supply in the world in 2014 by the World Bank.
The opportunity
At a brief signing ceremony at the ECG’s head office in Accra last Wednesday, Mr Dwamena said KEPCO was rated as the best utility company in the world.
Therefore, he said, the partnership offered the ECG an opportunity to learn from KEPCO’s expertise, technology, among others, to enhance the fortunes of the company.
With its expertise and technological advancement, he said, the ECG could learn extensively from KEPCO’s supervisory control and data acquisition, advanced metering infrastructure, loss reduction, geographic information systems and distribution automation systems.
He added that KEPCO, under the agreement, would also support the ECG to build the capacity of its staff to enable them to enhance their knowledge and skills.
With KEPCO’s transmission and distribution losses at about 3.6 per cent, Mr Dwamena said, the ECG would under-study the corporation to enable the ECG to reduce its losses that stood at around 27.44 per cent.
He said the ECG was, therefore, looking forward to building strong partnership with KEPCO in various areas such as system distribution, assets management, system loss reduction, among others, to develop and enhance its operations.
Strong ties
He added that the partnership between the two organisations would not only strengthen their cooperation but also enhance bilateral relations between Ghana and Korea.
Mr Bong–soo, in his address, said KEPCO was excited to partner the ECG, saying that “it is our first entry into Ghana and we are looking forward to enhancing our cooperation with the ECG”.
He said he was also hopeful that the entry into Ghana would be a stepping stone for KEPCO to tap into the energy potential of the energy sector in West Africa.