On the 26th, after a massive flood in the mountainous mid-northern Himalayas of Nepal cut off contact with six Doosan Enerbility workers building a hydroelectric power plant and three employees of Korea South-East Power (KOEN), Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power (KOEN) dispatched rapid-response teams to the site.
Jeong Yeon-in, Doosan Enerbility CEO (vice chairman), said at the departure hall of Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on the 27th, "We are working closely with the relevant authorities," and "We will do our utmost to rescue the employees with whom we have lost contact."
Korea South-East Power (KOEN) also set out to depart. Yoon Jang-hyeon, head of the new growth division at Korea South-East Power (KOEN), said, "We will focus on on-site searches and assessing the situation so that the employees can return safely," adding, "We will do our utmost with all our capabilities."
Yoon said about the damage, "The construction progress was at 84%, but it seems more than 90% of the upper dam was lost," adding, "It also appears that 90% of the base camp where construction personnel were located was lost. We understand the underground power station was not buried."
Doosan Enerbility formed an on-site response team of about eight people and dispatched them to the scene that day. Vice Chairman Jeong is leading the on-site response in Nepal. Depending on local conditions, Doosan Enerbility plans to add more personnel.
Doosan Enerbility, upon hearing of the flood damage the previous day, set up an emergency response headquarters and began assessing the situation and handling the accident. The emergency response headquarters has 40 personnel, and the head is Lee Dong-su, EHS head (executive vice president).
Korea South-East Power (KOEN) also established an emergency response headquarters on the 26th, led by acting CEO Cho Young-hyeok. Korea South-East Power (KOEN) dispatched six headquarters employees to Nepal that afternoon.
The site where the Korean workers who lost contact had been deployed is the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant construction site. The site is a 216-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric plant being built on the Trishuli River, 70 km northwest of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. Main construction began in Jan. 2022, with commercial operation scheduled to start after completion at the end of this year.
Korea South-East Power (KOEN) took charge of investment and local project execution, while Doosan Enerbility handled, in addition to power plant construction, the manufacturing and supply of equipment such as turbines and generators.