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Kospo announced in a statement that it had signed the MoU with ExxonMobil Power and Gas Services on Monday.
According to the statement, this agreement establishes a cooperative framework between Kospo, which is expanding its local power market investment portfolio by operating the Niles and Trumbull gas combined-cycle power plants in Ohio, and ExxonMobil, which possesses extensive natural gas production and export infrastructure in the US, to collaborate on identifying new business opportunities.
Under the agreement, the two companies plan to strengthen cooperation in the development and evaluation of combined-cycle gas turbine projects in the US, as well as in natural gas supply, LNG fuel supply, and the construction of LNG value chain infrastructure.
In particular, as power shortages in the US intensify due to surging data center demand driven by the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, natural gas power generation is expected to serve as an alternative to ensure a stable power supply, Kospo said.
Furthermore, the two companies plan to jointly review investment opportunities across the entire US power value chain, including power generation assets, energy infrastructure, and decarbonization projects, and explore potential areas of cooperation in global markets in the future.
“Based on our experience directly operating gas-fired combined-cycle power plants in the US, we will work with ExxonMobil to strengthen our business competitiveness in the US energy market,” Park Young-Chul, executive VP of corporate planning at Kospo, said.
“We will continue this cooperation to contribute to domestic energy security by securing a stable LNG supply chain,” he added.
Kospo’s LNG moves
Last year, South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Energy, units of Hanwha, teamed up with Kospo to jointly buy US LNG supplies.
According to Kospo’s website, the firm has seven LNG power plants in South Korea: Shinincheon, Busan, Namjeju, Yeongwol, Andong, ShingSejong, and Hanlim.
Posco International, a unit of South Korean steel producer Posco, and Kospo recently signed a heads of agreement on the use of Posco International’s Gwangyang LNG import terminal and the construction of a pipeline.
According to Posco International, the company will provide services to Kospo through the use of the facilities of the Gwangyang LNG terminal and a direct pipeline to be constructed from the LNG terminal to the Hadong LNG combined cycle power plant.