Shinpyeongtaek Power Co. President Im Seung-tae, POSCO E&C President Hwang Tae-hyun, Seohee Construction Chairman Lee Bong-gwan, and other business partners hold a copy of an EPC contract to build a 950MW liquefied nature gas-fired combined cycle power plant they signed.(Photos:POSCO E&C)

Shinpyeongtaek Power Co. singed an EPC contract at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in Seoul on May 19 to build a 950MW liquefied natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant worth 690 billion won. The deal was signed with POSCO E&C, Seohee Construction and a deal to supply main systems with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) and Marubeni Corp. 

Among those on hand at the signing ceremony were Shinpyeongtaek Power Co. President Im Seung-tae, POSCO E&C President Hwang Tae-hyun, Seohee Construction Chairman Lee Bong-gwan, and MHPS Executive Vice President Koji Hasegawa.

Shinpyeongtaek Power Co. is a special purpose company established by Korea Western Power Co. (WP) to attract investments from the private sector as part of efforts to reduce its standing debts. WP will be responsible for construction management and operation of the plant, GS Energy will be charged with supplying energy, and KB Financial Group is in charge of financing the project. 

A consortium consisting of POSCO E&C and Seohee Construction will carry out the EPC, a turn-key project. MHPS and Marubeni will supply the “J-Class” gas turbines, considered to be the most efficient and powerful in operation. 

Ground will be broken for the project this year. The project calls for completing a 950MW natural gas-fired unit by November 2019. The unit will be capable of generating power for some 200,000 households. 

The project will be implemented in accordance with the 6th national power supply master plan, announced by the government.

If it is put online as planned, the environmentally-friendly power unit is expected to further diversify Korea’s power supply to Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, and other Seoul metropolitan areas.

“POSCO E&C has accumulated expertise and excellent technology power while undertaking the Ansan and Incheon combined power cycle plants in Korea and serving as the first Korean contractor to entering Central and Southern American markets, including Chile and Peru, and these will be employed to undertake the project,” POSCO E&C President Hwang said. 

It was in 2009 that POSCO E&C became the first Korean contractor to enter the Peruvian market. It was awarded contracts for the 830MW Kalpa Combined Cycle Power Plant and the 810MW Chica Uno Combined Cycle Power Plant. The Korean contractor has successfully undertaken those projects. POSCO E&C strengthened its presence in the Central and Southern American energy plant construction markets by winning the 720MW gas-fired Puerto Bravo Power Plant project in 2014.

An artist’ conception shows the 950MW combined cycle power plant POSCO E&C will build in Pyeongtaek.