Dignitaries, including Director General Kim Hyun-chul of the New and Renewable Energy Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Hanwha Energy President Ryu Doo-hyung and Doosan Fuel Cell Senior Executive Vice President Yoo Soo-kyung, participates in a ground-breaking ceremony to launch a project to build a super-large hydrogen fuel cell power plant at the Daesan Industrial Complex on Aug. 16. (Photo: Hanwha Energy)

Korea East-West Power Co. (EWP) and Hanwha Energy have teamed up with Doosan and SK Securities on a project to build a hydrogen fuel cell power plant, the largest one in the world. The project calls for constructing a 50MW hydrogen fuel cell plant using by-product hydrogen from the Daesan Petrochemical Complex in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do.

The special purpose company, Daesan Green Energy, held a groundbreaking ceremony to launch the project at the Daesan Industrial Complex on Aug. 16. Hanwha Energy, EWP, Doosan, and SK Securities own a 49 percent, 35 percent, 10 percent, and six percent stake in Daesan Green Energy. Hydrogen fuel cell power generation resembles the hydrogen fuel cell car.

The hydrogen fuel cell power plant converts the chemical energy of hydrogen, a byproduct of the petrochemical complex, into mechanical energy by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in the air. The process produces water as a byproduct.

Such countries as China and India are interest in power generation using byproduct hydrogen, but such power plants in advanced countries have a capacity of 1MW. In this regard, construction of a hydrogen fuel cell power plant with a maximum capacity of 50MW is drawing keen attention from Europe, China and Japan.

The construction of the hydrogen fuel cell plant, to be built on a 20,000 sq. meter site of Hanwha Total within the Daesan Industrial Complex, will cost 255 billion won. The plant, which will be put into commercial operation in 2020, will produce 400,000MEh of electricity, equivalent of the electricity used by about 170,000 households annually.

About 40,000 tons the hydrogen that will be produced as a byproduct will be utilized in the petrochemical process of Hanwha Total. Hanwha Energy is expected to establish itself as an integrated energy provider by expanding its business portfolios to hydrogen fuel cell power generation on top of the conventional community energy and photovoltaic power businesses. Doosan will supply 114 fuel cell units with a combined capacity of 50MW, and the company will be in charge of long-term operation services following the dedication.

Hydrogen will be supplied to the power plant staring the 4th quarter this year on a gradual basis. Doosan developed a byproduct hydrogen fuel cell in cooperation with Korean parts makers. Doosan has localized 98 percent of major parts and components, including separators and super modules. About 2,600 people from 46 cooperative companies participated in the three-year localization program.

 
The hydrogen fuel cell power plant is expected to contributing to improving of the air environment in the West Sea area suffering from severe dust. It will not emit such pollutants as nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide in generating power. The hydrogen fuel cell power plant, capable of filtering super minute dust, is emerging as a representative eco-friendly power facility.

Hanwha Energy President Ryu Doo-hyung said the launch of the hydrogen fuel cell power plant will contribute to expanding of the Korean new and renewable energy business and reinvigorating the regional economy, and it will serve as an opportunity to venture into new/renewable energy projects by making the most of the experiences accumulated during the implementation of the project.

It takes on significance that this project is the largest-ever hydrogen fuel cell one, and it will serve as an opportunity for Doosan and its cooperative companies as well as Korea to lead the global byproduct hydrogen fuel cell power generation market by securing a competitive edge, a Doosan official said.