Thursday, 29 May 2025: Eskom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Korea Plant Service & Engineering Co., Ltd. (KEPCO KPS) to establish a strategic partnership focused on non-commercial research, technical consulting, and innovation. This agreement sets out a framework for collaboration aimed at enhancing Eskom’s operational performance and supporting its long-term sustainability objectives.
Under the MoU signed today, the two organisations will cooperate across six key focus areas, namely:
- Exploring strategic cooperation and exchange of information related to critical spares’ replenishment – including, but not limited to, remanufacturing, reproducing, repairing or retrofitting of obsolete spares);
- The identification, implementation and evaluation of potential research and consulting-related technical projects; projects supporting asset development plans, performance improvements of existing plant, and asset management;
- Digitalisation (such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, and data analytics) and related focus areas, working together to leverage expertise on training, skills development and knowledge transfer on digitalisation expertise towards modernising and achieving an intelligent power grid;
- Energy transition, green and smart research and development, plant construction focusing on socioeconomics, water generation with interest in the circular economy, and climate change risk mitigation;
- Enhancing human resources development, skills transfer and training, employee exchange and training programmes, study tours, workshops and sharing of studies and reports.
“Eskom is a research-driven, people-centred, and technology-focused organisation. Our collaboration with KEPCO KPS across key strategic areas reinforces our commitment to continuous business improvement and long-term sustainability,” said Eskom Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane,
“As we advance the recovery of our operations and work to strengthen long-term performance for the benefit of South Africans, businesses, and the broader economy, we are proud to partner with global institutions like KEPCO KPS. By combining our expertise and embracing international best practices in engineering and maintenance, we aim to accelerate innovation and build a more resilient, sustainable energy future for South Africa,” concluded Marokane.
“With this MoU as an opportunity, the two companies plan to expand technological exchanges and contribute to improving the performance of aging power plants in South Africa based on KPS’ world-class technological capabilities,” said KEPCO KPS Chief Executive Officer, Jungnam Lee.
About KEPCO KPS
KPS is a public corporation specialising in providing total solutions for power plant facility diagnosis & performance improvement, power generation facility operation and maintenance (O&M), as well as new & renewable energy and industrial facilities. KPS was established to contribute to the power industry’s stable power supply and development by improving the performance and reliability of power equipment for power generation and transmission.
Eskom Research Business Unit
Eskom is South Africa’s public electricity utility and is the largest producer of electricity in Africa. Click here to find out more about Eskom. The company has a dedicated research business unit, the Eskom Research, Testing & Development (RT&D), which is proactively finding technology solutions that can be applied primarily within the company to embrace innovation, enhance efficiency and improve operations, improvements related to emissions management, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) abatement, and beyond. One of the key areas of focus for RT&D is assisting the business in a differentiated approach with multiple pathways to move from high-carbon to low-carbon energy sources through identifying technology and processes that enable the economy to be competitive and sustainable while enabling Eskom to be as efficient as possible.
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