Daejeon City Signs Power Plant Construction Agreement with Korea East-West Power and Western Power

2.9 Trillion Won Investment in Power Generation Facilities... Construction of Four 500MW Units
Expected to Create 540,000 New Jobs and More

(From left) Kim Young-moon, President of Korea East-West Power Co., Ltd., Lee Jang-woo, Mayor of Daejeon, Park Hyung-duk, President of Korea Western Power Co., Ltd.

Four 500MW-class power plants are being constructed in Daejeon’s Gyochon Nano Industrial Complex and other areas, which is expected to significantly improve Daejeon’s power self-sufficiency.

On the 20th, Lee Jang-woo, Mayor of Daejeon, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the construction of eco-friendly power plants in the Gyochon National Industrial Complex and other locations with Kim Young-moon, President of Korea East-West Power Co., Ltd., and Park Hyung-duk, President of Korea Western Power Co., Ltd., at the city hall’s main conference room.

This agreement aims to build eco-friendly power plants to ensure stable power supply to the Gyochon Nano and Semiconductor National Industrial Complex (Gyochon Complex) and to cooperate in improving Daejeon’s power self-sufficiency and activating distributed energy.

Daejeon City and the two power companies plan to construct four 500MW-class eco-friendly power plants (2.4GW) using liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen co-combustion by 2037 in phases, depending on the timing of securing power plant capacity, with investment funds from the power generation public enterprises.

The city aims to build a total of four 500MW-class power plants (2.4GW) to achieve power self-sufficiency for companies in the Gyochon Complex (two 500MW units) and for the entire city of Daejeon, including the Gyochon Complex. Additionally, a feasibility study is underway for constructing a power plant on a 396,000㎡ (120,000 pyeong) site within the Gyochon Complex.

Following the 2050 carbon neutrality policy, the city is focusing on the national energy policy to convert coal-fired power generation to eco-friendly power generation such as LNG. Accordingly, one 500MW unit is scheduled for completion in 2036 and two 500MW units in 2037, timed with the fuel transition.

In addition, through consultations with the power companies, efforts will be made to newly include 500MW in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s basic power supply plan by 2026, with the goal of completing construction by 2032.

Kim Young-moon, President of Korea East-West Power, stated, “Stable power supply is essential to realize ‘Daejeon as a first-class economic city’ through the activation of the nano and semiconductor specialized industries. We will do our best to build eco-friendly power plants to secure Daejeon’s future growth engine.”

Park Hyung-duk, President of Korea Western Power, emphasized, “Recently, we successfully completed the Gimpo combined heat and power plant, the first in Korea to apply a Korean-type gas turbine, and are currently promoting several power plant construction projects in Gumi, Gongju, Yeosu, and Namyangju. Based on our construction know-how, we will steadily proceed with building power plants to improve Daejeon’s power self-sufficiency.”

The city expects that a total of 2.9 trillion KRW will be invested in power generation facilities for the construction of the power plants, contributing to regional economic revitalization. Daejeon’s power self-sufficiency, which stood at 1.87% in 2021, is expected to dramatically improve to 102% by 2037. Additionally, 540,000 new jobs will be created during the construction period, and a total of 66.6 billion KRW will be supported in the surrounding areas of the power plants over 30 years.

Mayor Lee Jang-woo of Daejeon expressed his sincere gratitude to the presidents of the two power companies for making the important decision to build the power plants, which will be the cornerstone for fostering Daejeon’s four major future strategic industries and creating a first-class economic city favorable for businesses. He added, “Let us closely cooperate to ensure that the planned power plants are constructed without any setbacks.”