Doosan Heavy Industries Accelerates Hydrogen Gas Turbine Development... Business Agreement with Ulsan City, East-West Power, and SK Gas

President Jeong Yeon-in of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction (from the left), President Kim Young-moon of Korea East-West Power, Mayor Song Cheol-ho of Ulsan Metropolitan City, and President Yoon Byung-seok of SK Gas are taking a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement to promote the 'Hydrogen Gas Turbine Demonstration Project' at the Korea East-West Power headquarters on the 3rd. (Photo by Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyeon-jin] Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction announced on the 3rd that it has signed a business agreement with Ulsan Metropolitan City, Korea East-West Power, and SK Gas to promote a hydrogen gas turbine demonstration project.

According to this agreement, Ulsan City will provide administrative support for building infrastructure for the hydrogen gas turbine project, Korea East-West Power will conduct demonstration of hydrogen gas turbines based on domestic technology, SK Gas will establish a hydrogen supply base, and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction will be responsible for developing and supplying hydrogen gas turbine technology. The companies participating in this agreement will take part in a demonstration project to convert the gas turbines of the Ulsan Combined Cycle Power Plant, which has been operating for over 25 years, into 270MW-scale hydrogen gas turbines by 2027. Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction explained that this is the first case in Korea.

Jung Yeon-in, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, said, "We plan to foster the hydrogen gas turbine business as a next-generation new growth power industry by leveraging this agreement," adding, "It is even more meaningful in that it can supply eco-friendly energy to the local community."

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction also signed an agreement the day before with Korea Midland Power to "achieve the 2050 carbon neutrality goal and activate domestic hydrogen gas turbines." Korea Midland Power will promote the introduction of hydrogen co-firing combustors and hydrogen gas turbine technology developed by Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction under national projects, and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction plans to develop hydrogen gas turbine technology and secure mass production technology for related components.

According to Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, power plants using hydrogen as fuel emit fewer pollutants compared to existing LNG combined cycle power plants. Hydrogen is receiving significant attention as one of the solutions for carbon neutrality, and major companies in the United States, Germany, Japan, and other countries are actively pursuing commercialization of hydrogen gas turbines in connection with their national policies. The global hydrogen gas turbine market is expected to grow to a scale of 40 trillion KRW by 2030.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction succeeded in developing an independent model of a large gas turbine for power generation as the fifth in the world in 2019, and since May last year, it has been participating in a national project to develop a "300MW-class high-efficiency hydrogen gas turbine 50% hydrogen co-firing eco-friendly combustor" together with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials.