Water Corporation, Successful Development of 100% Domestic Technology for Hydropower Equipment Turbine 'Runner' (Comprehensive)

Korea Water Resources Corporation CI

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Korea Water Resources Corporation announced on the 28th that it has succeeded in developing the turbine runner, a core component of a 50MW-class hydropower generation facility, using 100% domestic technology.

The runner is a component that converts the potential energy of water into mechanical rotational energy. When water flows from a higher place to a lower place, it rotates the turbine runner, generating rotational energy that drives the generator to produce electricity.

The project’s lead organization, Korea Water Resources Corporation, was responsible for design verification and quality control; Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials handled runner design; Geumseong E&C produced the turbine for simulation experiments. The Korea Water Resources Corporation Turbine Performance Test Center conducted the simulation experiments. The actual runner was designed and manufactured by EK Heavy Industries.

This development enables the entire process from runner design to manufacturing and testing to be localized. The 50MW-class development is the first of its kind in Korea. It is the largest capacity among related facilities domestically. The turbine efficiency is at a world-class level of 94.7%, higher than existing foreign-made facilities.

A Korea Water Resources Corporation official explained, "Using domestically produced runners for hydropower generation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 533.3 tons of carbon dioxide (tCO2) annually."

Korea Water Resources Corporation plans to gradually replace aging equipment at 10 hydropower plants by 2030, investing 602.8 billion KRW in the project.

Park Jaehyun, president of Korea Water Resources Corporation, said, "This localization achievement, accomplished through over five years of cooperation between private companies and the public sector, will significantly reduce dependence on foreign hydropower technology and contribute to energy security. We will do our best to gain a competitive edge in the overseas hydropower market as well."