[Editorial] Power Plant with One Percent of the Working Ratio

It is an enormous waste of national money that Boryoung Compound Steam Power Generation, which costs as much as 915.1 billion won, is not operating normally for 32 months since its inception. No mater what the reasons for the low working ratio are, related government body or Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) should take responsibility for the abnormal one percent of working ratio.

KEPCO insists that it is due to the bad gas turban, and Alstomn Company of France who made the turban is pitting itself against KEPCO, saying that it is due to the misapplication of the operating principles. Yet, if many power generators all over the world made by one company are not operating normally, it is clear that the company is the one who made the mistakes. Accordingly, the fact that KEPCO is not getting any reparation and indemnity by the Alstomn company, despite Alstomn`s clear fault, leads us to ask questions about KEPCO’s ability and attitude on the deal.

If the report, that Korea is the largest purchaser of the generator but is not getting reparations, is true, government authorities should consider a plan to restrict and impose sanctions on Alstomn company`s future projects in Korea. According to the officials of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and KEPCO, the total power supply does not have any problems because of the abnormal operation of Boryung Power Generator. If it is so, it is also difficult to understand why the government built a power generator with a huge amount of money when it does not affect the total power supply.

If the power generator that is built to increase the power supply reserve is operating abnormally, it means that the current plan for power supply is much too exaggerated. If the plan for power generator construction by KEPCO and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy is based on this, it is not a trivial issue. For we cannot trust the government’s assertion that it should increase electric charges because of the enormous fund needed for power generator construction.

The government should review the total system of power rates and should take some burden off from people if there are any unfair charges. Electric charges are similar to taxes in that everyone in the country is a consumer. Yet, people do not have the obligation to consume electricity to make up for that kind of waste.

Along with this, the system of progressive electric charges for homes should be reformed since it is clear that KEPCO and the Ministry do not have reasonable explanations for it.

We hope this incident will stimulate KEPCO to create a clearer management solution.