Internship Report
J. Mikhail R. Nacino
Internship Report on The Kansai Electric Power Company, Incorporated
17 February - 7 March 2014
Last February, I had the opportunity to work as an intern for the Kansai Electric Power Company (関西電力/KEPCO) in Osaka. KEPCO is one of the 10 electric power companies operating in Japan, responsible for supplying electricity to the Kansai area. As intern, I along with two other students from GraSPP were assigned to the International Cooperation Group, in charge of the overseas business activities of KEPCO. The 3-week internship consisted of lectures, site visits and presentations to the officials in KEPCO.
The lectures discussed the state of the power industry in Japan as well as the business activities of the company. Officials from KEPCO provided us a glimpse of the challenges and opportunities that the company and the industry are facing in light of recent developments in Japan.
As part of the internship, KEPCO officials brought us to various facilities within the region, such as the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui, the Hatogaya Hydroelectric Power Plant in Gifu, the Sakaiko Gas-fired Power Plant and Solar Power Plant in Sakai City, among others. The site visits helped in understanding the core business activities that the company is involved in, as well as the technical processes involved in power generation, transmission and distribution. Finally, each intern gave two presentations to the officials and employees of the International Cooperation Group on (1) the issues surrounding the energy policy of Japan or our home country, and; (2) our proposal for the strategy regarding the international business activities of the Corporation.
The internship benefited me in two ways. First, it was a great opportunity for me to understand Japan's power industry, from the perspective of the private sector. Moreover, the internship provided us the chance to experience first-hand the dynamics of a Japanese working environment.
