POSCO E&C Signs Supply Contract for Low-Carbon Equipment with German Engineering Firm

POSCO E&C President Song Chi-young. (Photos: POSCO E&C)

POSCO E&C signed a supply contract for carbon reduction equipment to be installed at POSCO’s Pohang Steelworks with ThyssenKrupp Uhde, a German engineering firm specializing in plant engineering.

“We inked a design and supply contract with POSCO E&C for new carbon-reducing top-loading coke oven batteries to be installed at the Pohang Steelworks,” ThyssenKrupp Uhde said on April 7. A coke oven battery is a massive facility that combines dozens of ovens into one to produce coke, which serves as both a reducing agent and a heat source for melting iron ore in steelworks.

The new facility will utilize ThyssenKrupp Uhde’s technology, “EnviBAT.” This technology drastically reduces gas and fine dust emissions generated during the coke manufacturing process through a single oven pressure control system.

It is already in operation at over 30 coke plants worldwide.

This contract also includes the installation of a state-of-the-art “MonoClaus” facility to replace an aging two-stage “Claus” facility.

The Claus facility recovers sulfur from hydrogen sulfide gas.

The sulfur obtained in this way is used in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, pesticides, fertilizers, and rubber products.

This contract is part of POSCO Coke Plant’s eco-friendly modernization project.

The existing aging facility, built in the 1980s, will be decommissioned and replaced with a new carbon reduction system.

“We will make a significant contribution to improving Pohang Steelworks’ environmental performance through the construction of state-of-the-art carbon reduction facilities,” said Michael Petzinna, an executive director of the operating unit for Coke Plant Technologies & Inorganic Acids, and CEO of tk Uhde Engineering Services at Thyssenkrupp Uhde.

The final round of the Company-wide AI Challenge held by POSCO E&C at its Songdo headquarters with the participation of approximately 500 employees on May 15.

Discovering Innovation Models for Construction Sites at AI Competition

POSCO E&C successfully wrapped up its “Company-wide AI Challenge” competition on May 15. The contest ran for about two months.

The competition was planned as part of POSCO E&C’s future-oriented and creative business innovation strategy.

The event aligns with the Korean government’s policy direction of Growing Korea into one of the top-3 AI powerhouses.

In particular, it was designed so that all members, including field staffs, could directly learn AI and apply it to actual work, rather than being centered on IT departments or experts.

It is drawing much attention as a case of company-wide AI internalization driven by creative thinking in the construction industry which has been traditionally perceived as the most conservative sector.

A total of 1,887 people participated in this competition which began on March 24, across four categories — Videos, Reports, AI Agents, and Golden Bells.

This figure represents nearly half of POSCO E&C’s entire workforce.

Many industry observers consider it unusual for a major Korean construction company to have nearly half of its entire workforce participate in a single AI task.

Preliminary training to enhance AI capabilities was also conducted during the competition.

A total of 1,012 participants took part in 10 training sessions, both in-person and online, leading to practical learning and the accumulation of capabilities beyond one-time participation in the competition.