Gyeonggi-do Office of Education Actively Promotes School Fuel Cell Hot Water Utilization Plan

The Gyeonggi-do Office of Education is working to actively utilize fuel cells installed in schools to reduce school operating costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

On March 19, the Office announced that it will develop an “integrated electricity and hot water utilization model” that links fuel cell use to school cafeteria hot water consumption patterns, and will apply this model primarily to new schools.

Fuel cells are new energy facilities that use city gas to generate both electricity and heat simultaneously. Until now, schools have mainly operated fuel cells for electricity production, leaving the generated hot water unused. This has led to lower facility utilization rates and ongoing concerns about economic efficiency.

Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education

In response, the Office has devised a standard operating model that prioritizes the use of hot water produced by fuel cells for school cafeterias, focusing on the typical hot water usage pattern concentrated between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

By applying a “parallel operation model,” in which 40°C hot water produced by the fuel cell is first stored in a hot water tank and then reheated to 60°C using a gas water heater, it is expected that annual gas bills can be reduced by approximately 22 to 43 percent (about 3 million to 3.5 million won).

In particular, if this model is applied to 24 elementary, middle, and high schools scheduled to be newly built in the province between 2027 and 2029, annual savings of about 60 million won are projected.

The Gyeonggi-do Office of Education plans to continue developing and implementing a range of policies to promote energy conservation and carbon neutrality in school facilities.

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