POSCO and Hanwoolwon to Build Fuel Cell Power Plant in Gwangyang... Annual Greenhouse Gas Reduction of 280,000 Tons

Fuel Cell Power Generation Business and Clean Hydrogen Activation MOU
40MW Fuel Cell Power Generation... Electricity for 32,000 People for One Year

Byungok Yoo, Head of POSCO Industrial Gases and Hydrogen Business Division (left in the photo), and Sanghyung Park, Head of New Business Division at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, signed a non-face-to-face agreement on the 12th for the "Fuel Cell Power Generation Project Using By-product Hydrogen from Steelworks and Promotion of Clean Hydrogen." Photo by POSCO

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] POSCO and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) signed a business agreement on the 12th regarding fuel cell power generation projects and the activation of clean hydrogen. According to this agreement, the two companies will promote a fuel cell power generation project utilizing by-product hydrogen generated at the steel mill. After initiating a preliminary feasibility study, they plan to proceed with project development, financing, and EPC.

The power plant will be established in Gwangyang City in accordance with the hydrogen industry business agreement POSCO signed with Jeollanam-do Province and Gwangyang City. It will be built with a capacity of 40 MW fuel cell power generation, producing approximately 318 GWh of electricity annually. This amount of power is enough to supply about 32,000 people, equivalent to 20% of Gwangyang City's population, for one year. Compared to a coal-fired power plant with the same output, the company stated that it expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 280,000 tons annually.

POSCO has the capability to produce 7,000 tons of hydrogen annually using by-product gases generated from the steel manufacturing process. Of this, 3,500 tons are used for steel mill operations and power generation. The company plans to gradually increase equipment operation rates and pursue additional investments to expand production capacity.

KHNP operates fuel cell power plants with a total capacity of 150 MW at multiple domestic bases. Going forward, it plans to seek a stable and economical fuel cell power generation business by receiving by-product hydrogen from POSCO. Additionally, they agreed to cooperate on hydrogen production and utilization using clean energy, technology development and information exchange for activating the clean hydrogen industry, and overseas clean hydrogen project development and demonstration.

Yoo Byung-ok, head of POSCO's Industrial Gas and Hydrogen Business Division, said, "Before the arrival of a complete green hydrogen era, we will first lay the foundation for the hydrogen economy by utilizing POSCO's by-product hydrogen production capabilities." Park Sang-hyung, head of KHNP's New Business Division, said, "The fuel cell power generation project using steel mill by-product hydrogen is not only excellent in power generation efficiency and eco-friendliness but also a great business model to realize the nation's carbon neutrality policy by utilizing hydrogen."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.