SEOUL, May 13 (Reuters) - A South Korean consortium will take a majority stake in a $2.5 billion thermal power plant project in Kazakhstan, South Korea's Presidential Office said on Wednesday.
Under a cooperation agreement signed between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his Kazakhstan counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, state-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) and building company Samsung C&T will hold a 65 percent stake in the Balkhash thermal project. State-owned Kazakhstan company Samruk will hold 25 percent, and local copper trading company Kazakhmys will have 10 percent.
Lee is on a trip to energy-rich Central Asia from May 10-14 to secure foreign energy reserves.
The final deal would be signed by Aug. 13, the statement said.
The plant, to be built in southern Kazakhstan, is scheduled for completion by 2014 and will have a power generation capacity of between 1,200 and 1,500 megawatts. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Chris Lewis)