South Korea to Merge Five State Power Generators Into Single Entity

SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- The government said Friday it plans to launch a new consolidated power generation company in October next year as part of its initiative to streamline state-run businesses and improve their efficiency.

On Thursday, the South Korean government announced plans to merge and restructure five state-run power generators -- Korea South-East Power Co., Korea Midland Power Co., Korea Western Power Co., Korea Southern Power Co. and Korea East-West Power Co. -- into a single entity.

The initiative was part of the government's push to reduce the total number of state-run firms from 524 to 415.

According to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the consolidated entity will have four divisions covering renewable energy, a just energy transition, safety technology, and planning and management.

The headquarters will have 1,800 employees, 600 fewer than the combined headquarters workforce of the five existing companies. Its location has yet to be decided.

The government also vowed to seek measures to exempt the merger from a review by the Fair Trade Commission.

The climate ministry, meanwhile, said a feasibility study found that consolidating the firms would be the optimal option for facilitating the energy transition and improving management efficiency.

The new company is expected to become the world's 14th-largest power generator, with a generation capacity of 53 gigawatts, according to the ministry. Excluding Chinese companies, it will rank eighth globally.

The new entity will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), as are the five existing power generators.