Samsung E&A to identify aging-plant repair projects through public-private cooperation, laying groundwork for new contracts

[Financial News] Samsung E&A is joining forces with the Korea Gas Safety Corporation to target the market for repairing aging plants. Although repair projects themselves are not large in scale, industry analysts say they could strengthen the company’s network with project owners and lead to new contracts.
Samsung E&A said on the 12th that it had signed an MOU with the Korea Gas Safety Corporation to strengthen plant diagnostic technology and cooperation on overseas business. The agreement will combine Samsung E&A’s experience in carrying out overseas plant construction projects and its partnerships with major state-owned oil companies abroad with the corporation’s infrastructure for comprehensive plant diagnostics and safety technology.
The MOU covers safety inspections of aging plants and business development, third-party technical verification of fitness for service and equipment life, support for safety inspections including phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT), and the sharing of accumulated expertise. Samsung E&A will take the lead in identifying aging plants in need of repairs, while the Korea Gas Safety Corporation will lead safety diagnostics and pursue proposals for repair and refurbishment projects.
Repairing aging plants is a smaller business than Samsung E&A’s core design, procurement and construction (EPC) work. But industry observers expect that repairing and upgrading aging facilities operated by overseas project owners could lay the groundwork for securing new EPC projects. They say showcasing the Korea Gas Safety Corporation’s competitive safety technology abroad could help the companies win contracts.
A Samsung E&A official expressed the company’s resolve, saying, “The Korea Gas Safety Corporation has safety technology but limited experience at overseas sites. Through active collaboration and the identification of project opportunities, we will make a full-fledged push into the market for modernizing aging plants.”
A Korea Gas Safety Corporation official also said, “A foundation has been laid for the full-scale application of domestic safety diagnostic technology at overseas plant sites. We will also contribute to safe plant operations at overseas sites.”
The two companies’ MOU signing ceremony took place on the 8th at the Global Engineering Center in Sangil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Senior executives from both companies attended, including Samsung E&A President and CEO Hong Namkoong and Korea Gas Safety Corporation President Park Gyeong-guk.
[email protected] Kim Yun-ho Reporter