Doosan contracted for coal-based power plants of the future project

With renewable energy being on the rise, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored the contest in a bid to seek novel ways of transforming coal-fired thermal power plants into next-generation power facilities that can be used to supplement new renewable energy. At present, the US operates coal-fired thermal power plants with a total capacity of 240 GW.

DHIC participated in the contest with Barr Engineering and the University of North Dakota’s research centre, jointly proposing a coal, gas and ESS hybrid power generation system and a gasification hybrid clean power generation system.

With regards to the coal, gas and ESS hybrid power generation system, DHIC has proposed the application of a rapid plant start-up technology achieved by downsizing the 1000 MW ultra-supercritical (USC) system to 250 MW class and combining this with a gas turbine and ESS for easy adaptation to the emerging new renewable energy market.

As for the gasification hybrid clean power generation system, the company has proposed a system based on the technology that had been applied to the Taean integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant project. The system performs coal gasification, separates the hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and then uses the hydrogen for fuel cell power generation, while capturing the carbon dioxide.

The selected technology projects received high marks for presenting a new upgraded model that involves transforming ageing coal-fired thermal power plants based on DHIC proprietary technology. Furthermore, the two proposals met all of the evaluation criteria set by the U.S. Department of Energy, i.e. power generation efficiency of 40% or more, rapid start-up, and differentiated technology which needs to be demonstrated and commercialised before 2030.

“The selection of these proposals is significant in that our capabilities and technologies have been recognised in the US, which is a global market leader of energy. It is also significant from the perspective of determining our future business direction, as there is heavy demand for the retrofitting of coal-fired thermal power plants in Korea and overseas,” declared Yongjin Song, DHIC’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO).

Following DHIC’s selection for the technology projects, the company plans to complete the conceptual design, feasibility study and demonstration of each project under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy by 2030.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/19062019/doosan-contracted-for-coal-based-power-plants-of-the-future-project/