New Pumped Storage Power Plant After 13 Years... DL E&C Signs Contract for 'Yeongdong Pumped Storage Power Plant'

DL E&C Signs Construction Contract with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
Contract Amount 503.4 Billion KRW... Completion Targeted for 2030
Overseeing Civil and Architectural Works Including Dam, Underground Power Plant, and Waterway Tunnel

DL E&C has signed a construction contract worth 503.4 billion KRW with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power for the Chungbuk Yeongdong Pumped Storage Power Plant. This is a new pumped storage power plant being built for the first time in 13 years since the Yecheon Power Plant.

At the contract signing ceremony for the construction of the Yeongdong Pumped Storage Power Plant, Park Sang-shin, CEO of DL E&C (left), and Hwang Ju-ho, President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (center), are posing for a commemorative photo.

DL E&C announced on the 30th that it held a contract signing ceremony for the Yeongdong Pumped Storage Power Plant construction project with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (hereinafter KHNP) at the Radiation Health Institute in Jung-gu, Seoul. The ceremony was attended by Park Sang-shin, CEO of DL E&C, and Hwang Ju-ho, President of KHNP, among others.

This project involves constructing a 500MW (megawatt) scale pumped storage power plant in the Sangchon-myeon and Yanggang-myeon areas of Yeongdong-gun, Chungbuk, with a target completion year of 2030. The capacity is sufficient to supply approximately 110,000 households annually.

DL E&C received the notification of award from KHNP earlier this month and has now signed the contract. DL E&C will oversee the civil and architectural works including the upper and lower dams, underground power plant, and waterway tunnels.

Pumped storage generates electricity by using cheap electricity during nighttime or electricity secured from renewable energy to pump water from the lower dam to the upper dam for storage, then releasing the water from the upper dam to the lower dam to produce electricity when demand increases. It has a lifespan of 40 to 60 years and a large energy storage capacity.

Renewable energy, which is gaining global attention, is unstable in supply and demand depending on day and night or weather conditions. To compensate for this volatility, KHNP has newly promoted pumped storage power generation for the first time in 13 years. The last pumped storage power plant constructed in Korea was the Yecheon Pumped Storage Power Plant in 2011. DL E&C was also responsible for building the Yecheon Pumped Storage Power Plant.

This project will apply the ‘RBM (Raise Boring Machine)’ method. This technology involves creating a small hole in the rock, connecting a vertical tunnel boring machine equipped with a cutter blade, and rotating it to drill through the rock. It is characterized by shortening the construction period and enhancing safety.

Park Sang-shin, CEO of DL E&C, said at the signing ceremony, "DL E&C is the construction company that completed the last domestic pumped storage power plant and is now starting again after 13 years. We will do our best in the construction of the Yeongdong Pumped Storage Power Plant through safety- and quality-centered site management."

Hwang Ju-ho, President of KHNP, stated, "Pumped storage power plants play a crucial role not only in strengthening national energy security but also in carbon neutrality. We will strive to help revitalize the local economy, including employment for local residents."