Korea Electric Engineers Association (KEEA) and KOTRA will jointly hold the 2010 Global Electric Power Tech at COEX in Seoul for a three-day run from May 18.
"About 20 relevant companies and organizations, including KEPCO, power generation companies and Korea Smart Grid Association, will participate in the event as partner institutions," President of KEEA, Choi Kwang-ju said. "At the same time, about 250 Korean and foreign companies from 20 countries are going to attend the global event to show off their advanced smart grid facilities, power generation and nuclear power plant facilities and other new & renewable energy-related products," said Choi.
"The global electric power tech show is designed to help domestic power generation-related companies build the base for exports and accelerate their advancement into foreign countries. This is the government's policy for globalization and export promotion of the electric power industry," the CEO of KEEA said. He also said that KEEA, which consists of some 1,500 member companies and manages over one million electricians, and KOTRA, which possesses 99 Korea Business Centers in the world, joined forces for domestic and overseas marketing activities this time to maximize synergy effects.
The global event, which obtained certification of international exhibition from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, has been gradually developed into a global business-specialized fair. "To make the event successful for the eighth time, KOTRA invited 150 promising buyers and Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) companies from 40 countries whose demands for smart grid and electric power plant materials are increasing sharply, such as those in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and CIS," Choi explained.
AREVA of France, Energo Nuclear of Romania, and other world famous nuclear energy and electric power companies are expected to attend the global event. In Korea, KEPCO and six power generation companies have decided to establish 100 booths for PR activities and close cooperation with small and medium-sized companies during the fair period, he said. In particular, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyosung, and other heavy electric machine-related large companies and such local governments as Seoul Metropolitan City and Gyeonggi Province are likely to participate in the international event.
In the 2009, Global Electric Power Tech had US$3.8 billion worth of projects, US$360 million export contracts and US$4 million on-the-spot contracts were made. The 2009, exhibition also brought about 318 cases of establishment of agents, 10,194 cases of consultations, and KRW18 trillion worth of negotiation results.
"Korea received US$1.3 billion orders for two thermal power plants from Kenya Electricity Generating Company thanks to the consistent follow-up after holding an export consultation meeting with foreign buyers in Seoul," Choi said. The top manager of KEEA said that the KEPCO-ACWA Power consortium won the US$2.5 billion order for Rabigh 1,200MW IPP project in June 2009.
"Noteworthy was that the Seoul government and KEPCO consortium won the US$20 billion order for construction of four 1.4 million kW-class nuclear power plants from UAE through an international open bidding, beating off such advanced nuclear energy suppliers as AREVA of France, GE of the United States, and Hitachi of Japan," he said.
"Considering these and other factors into consideration, I think the 2010 Global Electric Power Tech will serve as a role of detonator to create a global boom for Korean-type nuclear power plants," said Choi. He continued to say, "In an effort to attract big global buyers to the international event, we will offer 120 booths exclusively for consultation to competitive foreign buyers with sales of over US$100 million this time."
Noting that KEEA will extend full support for export consultation meetings and Choi said, "We will also hold a seminar related to the exhibition, offering information on the power generation industry and relevant industrial trend." The top manager of KEEA said, "We will continuously exert best efforts to help Korea's electric power-related companies exchange advanced technology information and develop marketing base, we well as promoting exports of competitive products."
Among the items to be displayed at the 2010 electric power tech show are smart grid facilities & systems, power generation & nuclear power plant facilities, power transmission, power distribution-related equipment and materials, electricity facility & relevant materials, and new & renewable energy.
The number of domestic and foreign companies participating in the global electric power tech has gradually increased from 230 in 2007 to 241 in 2008 and further to 252 in 2009 with the number of foreign participating companies soaring from 43 in 2008 to 73 in 2009. Meanwhile, the number of domestic and foreign visitors to the event rose from 18,095 in 2007 to 24, 135 in 2008 and again to 25,311 in 2009 with the number of foreign buyers soaring from 408 to 842, and further to 1,095, respectively.
