[Run Again, Construction Korea] Hanwha Construction Leading the Wave of 'Green Developer' in the Low-Carbon Era

"Confident as a Top-Tier Domestic Offshore Wind Developer by 2030"
Preparing for the Hydrogen Economy Era with Hydrogen Production from Wastewater

Jeju Sumang Wind Power Plant constructed by Hanwha Engineering & Construction

Abnormal weather phenomena such as heatwaves, heavy snowfall, and typhoons are occurring worldwide as side effects of global warming. In South Korea, the average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Celsius over the past 30 years. The world is transitioning to a carbon-neutral era, reorganizing industrial structures around eco-friendly and low-carbon initiatives. However, South Korea, with its high dependence on fossil fuels and manufacturing-centered industrial structure, finds it challenging to keep pace with this trend. Advanced technological innovation and new business models are urgently needed. This is why attention is focused on Hanwha Engineering & Construction, which has a diverse eco-friendly business portfolio and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) development strategies.

◇ Becoming a Top-tier Onshore and Offshore Wind Power Developer in Korea by 2030 = Hanwha Engineering & Construction has been continuously enhancing its competitiveness by expanding the Wind Power Business Division directly under the CEO and recruiting specialized personnel to strengthen its wind power generation business, which it has been promoting since 2013. Wind power projects require long-term investment as they involve extensive time from site selection and wind resource surveys to actual construction.

As a result of these efforts, Hanwha Engineering & Construction successfully completed the 76MW Yeongyang Wind Power Complex (22 units of 3.45MW each) and the 25MW Jeju Sumang Wind Power Complex (7 units of 3.6MW each) in 2020. Last year, the 90MW Yangyang Suri Wind Power Complex project was actively initiated, and project development for wind power complexes in Yeongcheon and Yeongwol is accelerating.

The company is expanding its business scope not only onshore but also offshore. It is leading the development of the 400MW Shinan Ui Offshore Wind Power Project, which involves a total investment of over 2 trillion KRW, and has begun wind resource surveys for multiple new offshore wind power projects. Offshore wind power is a core sector of Korea’s Green New Deal policy and is gradually increasing its share in the global renewable energy market.

Based on its accumulated experience in EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) for wind power projects, Hanwha Engineering & Construction is progressively diversifying its wind power business portfolio to include development, operation, and investment. In particular, by pioneering large-scale offshore wind projects that require high technical expertise and are still rare in Korea, the company plans to establish itself as a leading company in this field.

Building on this, Hanwha Engineering & Construction has set a goal to develop wind power projects totaling more than 2GW (2000MW) onshore and offshore by 2030 and to enter overseas markets, becoming a top-tier wind power developer in Korea.

The Yeongyang Wind Power Plant, completed by Hanwha Construction in 2020

◇ 729 Billion KRW Daejeon Sewage Treatment Plant Modernization... Large-scale Environmental Convergence Project = Hanwha Engineering & Construction is also advancing large-scale environmental convergence projects in the water treatment sector, where it has traditionally held strengths, and is enhancing competitiveness through continuous research and development (R&D).

Hanwha Engineering & Construction was selected as the preferred negotiator for the private investment project to modernize the Daejeon Sewage Treatment Plant facilities, with a total project cost of 729 billion KRW, demonstrating its accumulated capabilities in large-scale environmental projects. Additionally, in 2019, it secured the modernization project for the Cheonan Sewage Treatment Plant facilities, worth approximately 200 billion KRW, which is currently underway.

The source of Hanwha Engineering & Construction’s competitiveness in water treatment lies in various environmental new technologies and patented technologies, including the PRO-MBR method, which it developed and received certification for from the Ministry of Environment. The environmental technologies developed by Hanwha Engineering & Construction have been applied not only to the Daejeon and Cheonan sewage treatment plant modernization projects but have also been verified for performance in numerous water treatment facilities constructed by the company over recent years.

Based on this technological capability, Hanwha Engineering & Construction goes beyond merely constructing contracted projects and offers comprehensive solutions for the relocation, expansion, development, and operation of water treatment facilities, which local governments are concerned about. In particular, by undergrounding water treatment facilities and transforming the surface into multipurpose spaces that combine open parks with sports, cultural, and commercial facilities, the company is recognized for changing the paradigm of environmental facilities through large-scale environmental convergence development projects.

◇ Preparing for the Hydrogen Economy... Extracting Hydrogen from Wastewater = Hanwha Engineering & Construction also demonstrates strong competitiveness in the hydrogen energy sector. In 2020, the company completed the world’s first and largest ‘Daesan Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant’ using by-product hydrogen in the Daesan Industrial Complex, Chungnam Province. This power plant has a capacity of 50MW and produces 400,000 MWh of electricity annually, supplying power to approximately 160,000 households in the Chungnam region.

Last year, Hanwha Engineering & Construction signed a joint development agreement to build the ‘Ansan Banwol Hydrogen Production Plant,’ the first in Korea to produce hydrogen from wastewater sludge. This project is an eco-friendly initiative that gasifies sludge generated at the wastewater treatment plant in the Ansan Banwol Dyeing Complex to produce about 22,000 tons of hydrogen annually, along with carbon dioxide and steam. It is the first project in Korea to produce hydrogen using wastewater sludge, and by capturing and selling all carbon dioxide generated during the process, it contributes to carbon neutrality. This year, Hanwha Engineering & Construction is also reviewing participation in various green hydrogen energy projects together with group affiliates such as Hanwha Solutions and Hanwha Energy.

Hanwha Engineering & Construction has decided to proactively apply the decarbonization paradigm in its complex development projects as well. Through the private investment project to create the Jamsil Sports and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) complex space led by the Hanwha consortium, the Jamsil Stadium area is expected to be reborn as a world-class tourist attraction and business hub.

The Hanwha consortium plans to promote a carbon-neutral complex with a renewable energy self-sufficiency rate more than twice the mandatory ratio to maximize public interest and proactively realize a sustainable city. To this end, it will build an urban hydrogen value chain that includes hydrogen production, transportation, compression storage, power generation, and hydrogen refueling by integrating technologies from Hanwha Group’s hydrogen-related affiliates such as Hanwha Solutions’ Q CELLS division, Advanced Materials division, and Hanwha Aerospace, as well as traditional renewable energy sources like solar power.

A Hanwha Engineering & Construction official stated, “We have selected the eco-friendly (Environment) sector, where construction companies can take the lead, as a core business within ESG, which will be the management principle for all corporate activities, and we plan to strengthen our competitiveness. Through this, we aim to evolve beyond a simple construction company into a top-tier ‘green infrastructure developer’ in Korea.”

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