GS Caltex, KEPCO in blame game over power outage

By Kang Seung-woo

Fighting words are flying left and right between GS Caltex, the country’s second-largest refiner, and the state-run power company, Korea Electricity Power Corp. (KEPCO), over the cause of a power failure at a major industrial complex in the southern part of the country Monday.

GS was forced to shut down all of its plants at the complex in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, including crude distillation units (CDUs) and a residue fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC), due to the 20-minute power outage, which is believed to have cost tens of billions of won in damage.

The Yeosu complex also endured power failures in 2006 and 2008.

Immediately after the incident, KEPCO released a statement defending itself, claiming that the blackout was unrelated to the system of power supply and demand at the complex, and went on to blame GS Caltex for the disruption.

``The power failure happened because GS Caltex had its automatic switch off at their facilities, which cut off electricity despite a normal supply,’’ KEPCO said.

KEPCO in Yeosu supplies electric power to GS Caltex through two power lines and if one line breaks down, the other line is designed to pick up the supply, KEPCO said, downplaying the possibilities of supply system flaw.

GS Caltex denounced KEPCO’s claim as `nonsense.

``KEPCO is talking about our automatic switch, but if we had turned it off, our plants would have stopped completely,’’ said a GS Caltex official.

``There is no imaginable reason for us to consider turning off the automatic switch. We have spent 10 billion won to add the extra power line after the 2008 blackout, but it now appears that wasn’t enough for a smooth and reliable distribution of electricity.’’

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy has a launched a probe to investigate the cause of the blackout Tuesday.

GS Caltex said its facilities affected by the power outage will not return to full-capacity operations for at least three more days. The company’s CDUs have a maximum capacity of 760,000 barrels per day, while the RFCC has a capacity of 94,000 barrels per day, according to GS Caltex.

GS Caltex officials said that the company has yet to decide whether to pursue legal action seeking for compensation for its damages.

The industrial complex in Yeosu houses the factories of about 30 oil and petrochemical firms including GS Caltex, LG Chem, Yeochun NCC. and Honam Petrochemical Corp.