Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO, President Kim Dong-cheol) has decided to significantly improve its power equipment procurement contract procedures to enhance transparency and stability in procurement.

This improvement plan was devised to solve the problem of manufacturers lacking time to respond to changes in contract methods, which was caused by the integrated announcement of the material supply plan at the beginning of the year. The key improvements are as follows.

• Introduction of a 5-month advance notice period: An advance notice period of approximately 5 months has been introduced alongside KEPCO's review procedures prior to signing new contracts for each item, allowing manufacturers to prepare sufficiently. • Institutionalizing lump-sum contracts: For newly introduced items, lump-sum contract purchasing has been established as a principle to prevent the issue of annual unit-price contracts becoming concentrated among a few manufacturers. • Advancing the purchase request deadline by 3 months: The deadline for the subsequent unit-price contract purchase request has been set to at least 3 months prior to contract expiration, ensuring the timely procurement of power equipment.

To implement these systemic improvements, KEPCO has proceeded with the following schedule and shared it with the industry. • May 14: Revision of related guidelines, including internal procedure manuals • May 22: Announcement of items subject to contract method changes via the power equipment e-Procurement System (SRM) • May 28: Notification of work procedure improvements • June 1: Conducting briefings for relevant manufacturers

A KEPCO official stated, "By strengthening the advance notice function, it is highly significant that we can prevent information asymmetry among manufacturers and encourage the participation of more companies, while the establishment of a purchase request deadline provides manufacturers with a sufficient preparation period."