[K-Construction, New Challenge]
Expansion of Renewable Energy Market Seen as New Opportunity
Preparing Fourth Fuel Cell Project in Hadong
Doosan Construction is actively expanding its hydrogen fuel cell power generation business. The company sees the expansion of the renewable energy market as a new opportunity in response to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management and the climate crisis. Fuel cell power generation is an eco-friendly energy conversion device that transforms the chemical energy of fuel into electrical and thermal energy through the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. It is a truly environmentally friendly power source that produces almost no nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), or particulate matter, which are major components of fine dust.
Doosan Construction recently signed a shareholder agreement as the construction contractor for the 'Hadong Fuel Cell Power Generation Project,' preparing its fourth fuel cell project. The company undertakes comprehensive construction-related tasks from project development, design, and construction to integrated commissioning and operation of the fuel cell power plant. The Hadong fuel cell power plant is planned to be constructed with a generation capacity of 19.8 MW, which is enough to supply approximately 40,000 households based on a four-person family standard. As of November this year, this capacity exceeds the total population of Hadong County, which is 23,000 households. It is expected to play a significant role as a distributed power source promoted by the government to align power production and consumption at the regional level, greatly contributing to local power supply.
This project is also attracting attention as a convergence and complex business model that utilizes not only electricity production but also the cold energy of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the waste heat from fuel cells. The cold energy at minus 162 degrees Celsius generated from LNG before power generation is used for ultra-low temperature rapid freezing, and the waste heat generated after power generation is utilized for drying processing and heating supply for smart farms.
Previously, Doosan Construction successfully completed the 'Oseong Power Plant Fuel Cell Expansion Project (3.08 MW)', 'Incheon Fuel Cell Power Generation Project (39.6 MW)', and 'Bitgoeul Fuel Cell Power Generation Project (Bitgoeul Eco Energy, 12.32 MW)'. Among these, Doosan Construction participated as a construction investor in the Incheon and Bitgoeul fuel cell power generation projects and has been operating them stably to date. Notably, the Bitgoeul fuel cell power generation project was the world’s first to apply an LNG-Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) dual-type fuel cell. In the case of the Hadong fuel cell power generation project, the business is being promoted differently from existing fuel cell operators by utilizing the cold energy of LNG.
The two fuel cell projects that Doosan Construction has invested in, completed, and currently operates produce 85,424 MWh of electricity (applying the investment share). Through this, they achieve an annual reduction of 51,440 tons of carbon dioxide compared to coal power generation.
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