Korea Midland Power Co., a power generation subsidiary of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., said Tuesday that it signed an agreement with Carbo One, the second-largest mining company in Russia for a long-term purchase of coal and a preferential coal supply.

For a three-year period, KOMIPO will be supplied with 280,000 tons of high-grade coal every year, with the advantage of receiving it from the nearest port of registry in the event of a supply crisis, in accordance with the deal struck in Moscow.

KOMIPO currently runs a 4,000 megawatt thermal power plant in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, which consumes 14 million tons of coal annually. It plans to build more thermal power plants after 2016, increasing its coal consumption to 25 million tons.

Given that Russia, accounting for about 11 percent of the world’s coal exports, is geographically closer than Australia ― Korea’s main coal source ― deliveries are expected to be faster, Korea Midland said.

(hjlee0301@heraldcorp.com)