SK Ecoplant Creates Eco-Friendly Energy from Waste Resources

SK Ecoplant announced on the 1st that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote the 'Clean Energy Project Utilizing Plasma Technology' with Ulsan City, Korea South-East Power, Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, GS Construction, SK Securities, and small and medium-sized enterprises in the Ulsan region. The photo shows Park Kyung-il, SK Ecoplant Head of Business Operations (seventh from the left), (from the second left) Lee Chang-yong, Head of ESG Division at SK Securities, Heo Yoon-hong, CEO of New Business Division at GS Construction, Lee Seung-woo, President of Korea South-East Power, Song Cheol-ho, Mayor of Ulsan, Yoo Seok-jae, Director of Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, and other officials attending the signing ceremony holding the agreement for a commemorative photo. Photo by Park Kyung-il

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] SK ecoplant is embarking on clean energy production using waste resources based on fuel cell technology.

On the 1st, SK ecoplant announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the ‘Clean Energy Project Utilizing Plasma Technology’ with Ulsan City, Korea Southern Power, Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, GS Construction, SK Securities, and small and medium-sized enterprises in the Ulsan region.

This agreement is fundamentally about extracting hydrogen using plasma technology from waste resources such as disposable products whose usage has surged recently due to COVID-19, and ultimately supplying it to fuel cells to produce clean electricity.

Plasma is the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid, and gas, referring to a state where atomic nuclei and electrons are separated and move freely due to increased energy. Plasma technology is an eco-friendly technology that heats waste resources to ultra-high temperatures to decompose all atmospheric pollutants and extract hydrogen. Although it has been criticized for high electricity consumption and cost, SK ecoplant plans to provide a solution capable of high-efficiency power generation by utilizing the advantages of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).

Under this agreement, SK ecoplant will oversee fuel cell EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) and on-site demonstration, Korea Southern Power will lead the establishment of a special purpose company (SPC) to promote the project in the Ulsan area, and Ulsan City will be responsible for site review, permits, and government consultations. The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy will provide plasma gasification technology support, GS Construction will handle gasification plant EPC, SK Securities will conduct economic feasibility studies and project financing (PF), and Ulsan-based companies Daeyoung Enterprise, Samyoung ENG, and Samwoo will negotiate waste resource procurement and site provision.

This project, with a total investment of 160 billion KRW by 2024, is the first 16MW-class SOFC power generation project in Ulsan utilizing waste resources and plasma technology. It will process 70 tons of waste per day and produce 16MW of electricity sufficient for 30,000 households. After demonstration in 2022, commercial operation is targeted for 2024.

It is expected to create about 1,400 direct and indirect jobs and induce a production effect of approximately 340 billion KRW. Furthermore, it is anticipated to become a model for building a hydrogen economy energy base in the future.

Kyungil Park, Head of Business Operations at SK ecoplant, said, “Through this agreement, we have been able to environmentally convert waste resources into energy by linking plasma technology and fuel cell application technology. We will further advance our technology to establish a firm position for the plasma-fuel cell package project as an economic and eco-friendly alternative for waste resource treatment, and furthermore, we plan to explore overseas export opportunities.”

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