Chairman Park Ji-won of Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction.

“We wondered if we would achieve the project, but it has been successfully concluded. I would like to thank everyone who participated in the project for the successful outcome and give them a huge applause,” said Chairman Park Ji-won of Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction in a statement on Facebook on Sept. 19.

In 2013, Chairman Park decided to invest 1 trillion won to localize technology for the development of LNG gas turbines in order to compete in the global market for the gas turbines, joining foreign makers who had enjoyed the LNG gas turbines market exclusively.

The company became the 5th developer of the LNG gas turbine technology in the world, joining GE of the U.S., Siemens of Germany, MHPS (Mitsubishi and Hitachi) of Japan, and Ansaldo of Italy, among others.

Korea’s leading power equipment maker held a press event at its headquarters in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on Sept. 20 to unveil and showcase a test model dubbed the DGT6-300H S1 gas turbine.

Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction has become the 5th developer of the LNG gas turbine technology in the world. (Photos: Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction)

“To better adapt to the rapidly changing global power production market due to shifting policies around the world, we have been preparing a new business portfolio,” said Lee Kwang-yol, vice president of Doosan Heavy in charge of the gas turbine development.

“This new model will help Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction acquire leadership in the changing energy market and contribute to generating power in a more eco-friendly manner.”

A gas turbine compresses high air and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and generates thermal energy at temperatures to up to 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,732 degrees Fahrenheit). The heat is then converted to mechanical energy by being passed through 450 blades within the turbine. A generator attached to the turbine then converts the mechanical energy into electricity.

Doosan Heavy said the large gas turbine, with more than 40,000 parts, has a rated capacity of 270 megawatts and is highly eco-friendly, as using LNG as a power source emits less air pollutants than coal.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, LNG power production emits one-eighth the level of ultra-fine dust and one-third the amount of sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide compared to generating electricity from coal power plants.

Gas turbine technology completion is also a significant technological achievement for Korea, as the country has been looking for ways to rely less on foreign entities in building its energy infrastructure.

At this moment, all 149 gas turbines operating in Korea have been manufactured and are serviced by foreign companies, which has cost the country around 12.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion) to date.

In a bid to rely less on foreign companies, Doosan Heavy stepped up in 2013 to run a government-sponsored project and develop the country’s first self-developed gas turbine.

The company has invested a total of 1 trillion won in the project, while working with 21 Korean universities, four state-run research centers and 13 small- and medium-sized enterprises to develop the turbine with 60 billion won of government support.

Even though the company did make gas turbines starting in 1991, Lee said it was merely assembling parts supplied by General Electric.

“No foreign companies thought it was possible for Korea to make its own gas turbine when we first took on the project in 2013,” Lee said. “Others thought we wouldn’t be able to do it because we didn’t even have our own jet engine technology during World War II.

But we are now at the verge of making it happen.” Doosan Heavy said by using its locally-manufactured gas turbine, Korea would save around 10 trillion won that it would have spent on importing technology and getting maintenance services from foreign companies.