SK Ecoplant Successfully Secures Capital for 'Jincheon Sincheok Fuel Cell Power Generation Project'

First Case Among 19 Awarded Projects in the Second Half of the Year
Iljin Power and Business Development, Investment, Power Plant EPC, etc.

The Jincheon Sincheok fuel cell power generation project, in which SK ecoplant is participating, has successfully secured capital funding. It is the first case among the 19 projects awarded in the hydrogen power generation bidding market in the second half of last year to successfully secure financial agreements.

Aerial view of Jincheon Sincheok fuel cell power plant. Photo by SK Ecoplant

SK ecoplant announced on the 26th that it signed a financial agreement on the 23rd for the execution of the Jincheon Sincheok fuel cell project. Hana Bank was in charge of financial arrangement and advisory. SK ecoplant, together with Iljin Power, will act as investors in this project, handling project development, investment, and EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) work for the fuel cell power plant.

The Jincheon Sincheok fuel cell project is a project to build a 19.8MW SOFC power plant within the Sincheok Industrial Complex in Jincheon-gun, Chungbuk Province. Once the power plant is completed and operating normally, the annual electricity production is expected to reach approximately 166.5GWh. This exceeds the annual residential electricity consumption of Jincheon-gun, Chungbuk Province, which was 146.4GWh as of last year. It also accounts for nearly 6% of the total electricity consumption of Jincheon-gun (2986.1GWh), reaffirming its value as distributed energy. The electricity produced will be sold to Korea Electric Power Corporation at a fixed price for the next 20 years.

The Jincheon Sincheok fuel cell project, which signed a power purchase agreement last December, will begin full-scale construction next month through this financial agreement. Commercial operation is scheduled for June next year, and normal project commencement is expected within 24 months. The Hwaseong Yanggam fuel cell project, which also signed a financial agreement at the end of last year, is scheduled to be completed this year, with commercial operation starting 13 months after the power purchase agreement.

An SK ecoplant official stated, “Given the characteristics of the hydrogen power generation obligation system (CHPS), which requires commercial operation within 24 months after the power purchase agreement, the competitiveness of projects that have successfully secured capital funding is expected to increase further,” and emphasized, “The commercialization reliability of fuel cell projects using SOFC main units has been proven once again.”

Hana Bank, responsible for financial arrangement, also stated, “Based on the stable performance and economic feasibility of the SOFC main units, sufficient profitability is expected,” and added, “Hana Bank will continue to provide ongoing support to revitalize the fuel cell ecosystem.”

SK ecoplant stated that the Bloom Energy SOFC they supply can produce more electricity with the same amount of fuel compared to other methods. In January 2020, SK ecoplant established the joint venture ‘BloomSK Fuel Cell’ with Bloom Energy and completed the BloomSK Fuel Cell manufacturing plant in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, leading efforts to revitalize the domestic fuel cell ecosystem and strengthen technological competitiveness. They have also achieved results by collaborating with domestic small and medium enterprises to build a lineup of more than 10 key components.

Baek Seong-jun, head of SK ecoplant’s Energy Business Division, said, “Following the Hwaseong Yanggam fuel cell project, the successful capital funding of the Jincheon Sincheok fuel cell project reconfirms the stable performance and financial credibility of SOFC,” and added, “We expect this to have a positive impact on the general hydrogen power generation bidding market this year.”

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