EWP President Park Il-joon and Donghae Mayor Shim Gyy-eon pose after they signed an MOU to supply heat from fuel cell power plants to public entity facilities.

EWP will be first Korean company to supply heat from fuel cell power plants to public entity facilities. EWP signed an MOU with Donghae City, Gangwon-do, on May 12 to implement a 5MW fuel cell power plant project and supply heat from the plant to the Pukpyeong Leports Multi-purpose Facility.

It is the first time that a public entity has joined a local government to carry out a profit-sharing fuel cell project. Both sides agreed to establish a master plan by August and launch the project in November.

Under the deal, Donghae City will invest 9.3 billion won to construct a multi-purpose sports facility, including a swimming pool. EWP will implement a 5MW fuel cell power plant project on a site, provided by the municipal government.

Recovery heat from the upcoming fuel cell power plant will be supplied to the multi-purpose leisure-sports facility for free. Heat supply amounts are estimated to stand at 77,080 Gcal for 20 years, bringing an effect of reducing 15,470 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

EWP President Park Il-joon said, “(We at EWP) plan to set up a test-bed for a green hydrogen production, a government R&D task utilizing renewal energies, on top of the latest project and we will expand innovative new/renewal energy projects like the attracting of green hydrogen-related companies.”

Designers and manufacturers attend a session at Korea East-West Power Co. (EWP) headquarters on May 13 to discuss ways of reducing plumes at cooling towers. (Photos: EWP)

EWP Aims to Make Eumseong Nature Gas-Fired Power Plant Advanced

Korea East-West Power Co. (EWP) held a session to discuss ways of building the Eumseong nature gas-fired power plant with a technology to abate plumes at cooling towers.

The gas-fired power plant, slated to be online in late 2024, is expected to adopt a technology to reduce plumes at cooling towers. They do not harm humans and the environment, but could evoke visual misgivings.

Designers and manufacturers got together at a session at EWP headquarters in Ulsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, on May 13 to discuss ways of reducing plumes at cooling towers.

When a power plant is built in an inland area, a cooling tower facility is essential to lowering heat being generated by systems and equipment. Evaporating water from cooling towers causes large amounts of plumes when it meets with cold air, particularly during winter. It is common that neighborhood residents, mistaking the plumes for air pollutants of a power plant, raise complaints and grievances.

The session served as an opportunity to discuss and share the latest technologies to lower plumes at cooling towers, homegrown technologies and improvement cases. The participants also discussed ways of adopting the nation’s best technologies to reduce such plumes.

An EWP official said the upcoming Eumseong gas-fired power plant, whose construction is to begin in 2022, is to be built in an area in Pyeonggok-ni, Eumseong-eup, Eumseong-gun, at a cost of 1.2 trillion won, and is scheduled to be put into commercial operation in December 2024.

The new power plant will adopt the latest technologies in Korea and abroad so as to minimize worries from neighborhood residents.

The construction and operation of the power plant are expected to boost the local economy in the Eumseong area and contribute to the development of the district.