Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP; Korean: 한국수력원자력) is a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). It operates large nuclear and hydroelectric plants in South Korea, which are responsible for about 27 percent of the country's electric power.
In December 2020, KHNP operated 24 nuclear power plants, 37 hydroelectric plants, 16 pumped-storage power plants, and 32 renewable power plants. Its total facility capacity was 28,607 MW, with a total generation capacity of 164,613 GWh.
KHNP was established in 2001 as part of a general restructuring at KEPCO,[1] which opened its first nuclear plant at Kori in Busan in 1977. Commercial operation at Kori nuclear #1 began in 1978.
The company operates internationally, with offices in New York, Washington, Paris, Tokyo and Prague. The current CEO is Chung Jaehoon (Korean: 정재훈).[2] In 2020, the company had 12,551 employees and revenue of ₩10.4 trillion[3] (about US$9 billion). Its international credit ratings are Aa2 stable/AA stable/AA- stable (Moody's/S&P/Fitch).[4] The chief executive officer is Whang Joo-ho, who began his three-year term in 2022.[5][6]
On December 27, 2009, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and KEPCO agreed to build four 1400 MWe Korean (APR-1400) nuclear power units in Barakah, United Arab Emirates. KEPCO carried out the project in partnership with KHNP, KEPCO E&C, KEPCO NF, Hyundai E&C, and Samsung C&T. In accordance with its joint project management agreement with KEPCO, KHNP provided manpower and technical support for construction management, in addition to training and licensing support.[9]
KHNP sent skilled nuclear-power-plant operating personnel and provided services requested by ENEC under an operating support services agreement until the agreement ended on July 20, 2016. KHNP will continue to assign an average of 200 operators and engineers to the BNPP annually and provide requested services for 10 years after the completion of BNPP Unit 4.[10] A consortium of KHNP and Korea Electric Power Corporation Plant Service & Engineering Co. (KEPCO KPS) signed a five-year maintenance contract for the BNPP in June 2019.[11]
KHNP plans to expand its new and renewable energy production capacity to 7.6 GW by 2030. The company is installing the world’s largest floating photovoltaic power-generation facility (300MW) on the Saemangeum SeawallinNorth Jeolla Province. With the city of Ulsan and Hyundai Motor Company, it installed a 6 MW photovoltaic power-generation facility. In 2019 KHNP completed a 19.2 MW onshore wind-power-generation complex in 2019, powering about 16,000 households at the foot of Noraesan mountain near its pumped-storage plant in Cheonsong, Syeongsangbuk-do Province.[12]
In Romania, KHNP implementing a technical-service project for a radioactive waste repository. The company also strengthened cooperation with nuclear power plant operators in the Czech Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan, and Bulgaria.[13][14]
KHNP announced in September 2020 that it had joined a consortium with several South Korean financial institutions. The consortium agreed to acquire 49.9 percent of four large wind farms in the United States.[15]
That year, the company joined Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corp (KIND), S Energy, and Hanyang Electric at the World Trade Center Seoul in a consortium to invest in a solar-power project in Chile. The consortium is promoting a 6.6MW plant in Guadalupe and a 6.4MW plant in María Pinto, both near Santiago, the capital of Chile. KHNP intended to complete construction in 2021 and operate the two plants for 25 years.[16]
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certified KEPCO's APR-1400 in 2019, saying that the NRC found the design fully meeting US safety requirements. According to KEPCO, the APR-1400 was the first "non-US type" reactor design certified by the NRC. In October 2017, European Utility Requirements (an advisory group for European utilities) had approved the APR-1400 reactor design.[17]
