A blueprint shows the world's largest power plant using byproduct hydrogen as fuel. [Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL -- Construction began in South Korea Thursday to build a 50-megawatt fuel cell power plant using by-product hydrogen as fuel. It would be the largest of its kind in the world.
Daesan Green Energy, a joint venture led by Hanwha Energy and Korea East-West Power, is responsible for the construction and operation of the new power plant which will cost about 255 billion won ($224 million). Commercial production will begin in June 2020..
"We will use this hydrogen fuel cell power plant as an opportunity to expand our new renewable energy business," Hanhwa Energy CEO Ryu Doo-hyung said in a groundbreaking ceremony at an industrial complex in Seosan, about 90 kilometers (54 miles) southwest of Seoul.
Like hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the new power plant generates electricity by electrochemically reacting hydrogen with oxygen. Hydrogen can be extracted as a petrochemical process byproduct. Hydrogen fuel cells are getting popular as solutions for eco-friendly power plants because they can generate electricity without producing harmful emissions such as NOx, SOx, and dust.
"We will do our best to make a leap forward as an eco-friendly energy company," said Park Il-jun, CEO of Korea East-West Power, a branch of the country's state utility firm KEPCO.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
