Saemangeum Development Corporation Denies Collusion Allegations in Saemangeum Solar Power Project... Claims No Wrongdoing

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Young-tae] Saemangeum Solar Power Corporation and local construction companies related to the project have raised suspicions of 'collusion' and declared a boycott of participation in the project. In response, Saemangeum Development Corporation explained that it is not true by citing relevant laws, but the controversy has not subsided.

On the 29th, Saemangeum Development Corporation stated in a press release regarding the Jeonbuk branch of the Korea Electrical Contractors Association's 'suspicions of collusion among public enterprises' that "Article 10 of the bidding guidelines stipulates that if collusion occurs, the business proposal will be invalidated," dismissing the related suspicions.

Regarding claims that the corporation did not consider regional coexistence, the corporation asserted, "According to Article 16, Paragraph 2 of the bidding guidelines, the business operator must follow the regional coexistence plan decided by the public-private council," and added, "In fact, the business proposer fully complied with the regional coexistence plan approved by the public-private council, proposing a 40% participation rate for local companies in construction and a 50% usage rate for local materials."

However, Jo Dong-yong, a civilian member of the public-private council and a provincial assembly member for Gunsan District 3, rebutted at the public-private council meeting on the 27th, stating, "The corporation only formed the public-private council but is pushing the project unilaterally without sufficient consultation with the council, and the project’s promotion method and content hardly include any regional coexistence measures."

Meanwhile, the Saemangeum Solar Power Project is a large-scale renewable energy cluster development project with a budget of 5.6 trillion KRW and a scale of 3GW.

Of this, 2.8GW is solar power generation, which is an enormous output equivalent to three nuclear power plants, while the remaining 0.1GW is wind power and 0.1GW is fuel cell power generation.

Regarding the project, the Jeonbuk branch of the Korea Electrical Contractors Association stated on the 28th, "The Saemangeum Sebit Power Plant Consortium, selected as the preferred negotiator, suddenly declared non-participation, leaving only Korea Midland Power Co., Ltd. participating alone," and declared, "This is collusion among public enterprises, and we completely refuse to participate in the Saemangeum Solar Power Project."