South Korea’s state-run energy company Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) made its first entry into the U.S. energy market by purchasing a solar power plant in Colorado.

The company announced on Sunday that it signed a contract with Cogentrix Solar Holdings LLC, under the world’s biggest asset management company Carlyle Group, to acquire a 30 megawatt solar power facility in Alamosa County, Colorado.

KEPCO took over a 100 percent stake in the power plant with a private equity fund named COPA Fund, established by local institutional investors including the National Pension Service. The facility, installed with concentrating photovoltaic modules that are 31 percent more energy efficient than conventional silicon modules, is scheduled to be run by KEPCO starting this October.

KEPCO President Cho Hwan-eik inked the deal with Carlyle Group Chairman Dan D’Aniello last Friday in New York and signed a separate memorandum of understanding (MOU) for future cooperation.

The acquisition is expected to lay the foundation for the company to expand its presence in the U.S. as it seeks to pursue independent power producer business, renewable energy business, energy storage system and smart grid business in cooperation with Carlyle Group.

As the electricity produced by the solar power facility will be purchased up by the Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), KEPCO expects it would generate $230 million in revenue during the 26 years of business period. The acquisition is expected to boost local exports by around 15 billion won ($13 million) because KEPCO plans to set up solar panels and energy storage system by using domestically-produced materials at the idle sites around the plant.

“We’ve made our first entry into the world’s biggest U.S. energy market since we started overseas operation in 1995 in the Philippines,” the company said in a statement. “The purchase of the power plant would pave the way for us to expand our presence in the North American market,” it added.

By Hwang In-hyuk

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