150 MW facility targets 2030 completion; project seen as foundation for clean hydrogen power transition

[Provided by DL E&C]
[Provided by DL E&C]

DL E&C announced Monday that it has won a sole contract worth 550 billion won (approximately $362 million) to build the East Jeju Combined-Cycle Power Plant.

The company has recently posted a string of notable results in energy transition projects, moving away from coal-fired thermal generation toward small modular reactors and new combined heat and power facilities such as the S-Oil cogeneration plant.

A contract signing ceremony was held June 11 at Korea East-West Power's headquarters in Ulsan, attended by DL E&C President Park Sang-shin and Korea East-West Power President Kwon Myeong-ho, along with other officials from both companies.

Industry observers say the award recognizes DL E&C's competitiveness in eco-friendly energy, given that the plant is designed to support a future transition to clean hydrogen generation.

The project centers on constructing a 150-megawatt gas combined-cycle power plant in Dongbok-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju Island. Korea East-West Power commissioned the work, and DL E&C will handle the full engineering, procurement and construction process — including commissioning — targeting completion in 2030. "More than 70 years of power plant construction experience and a deep understanding of the Jeju region formed the foundation for this contract award," a DL E&C official said. "We believe our basic design capabilities, which are key to improving generation efficiency — the core of any power plant's competitiveness — were particularly well regarded."

The East Jeju facility will incorporate Advanced Work Packaging, a smart project management methodology.

Jeju Island has been pursuing a "carbon-free island" policy, steadily raising the share of renewable energy in its power mix to replace fossil fuels. Renewable energy currently accounts for roughly 20 percent of the island's power generation — the highest among all local governments nationwide — but the intermittency of output that fluctuates with time of day and weather remains a challenge. To address this, DL E&C plans to install synchronous condensers at the plant to stabilize the grid.

The company also plans to introduce turbines capable of producing the same level of electricity as conventional plants, enabling a future conversion to a clean hydrogen power facility.

"Converting to clean hydrogen generation is an economical, low-carbon power solution that minimizes shutdown periods and reduces costs compared with building an entirely new plant," said Yoo Jae-ho, head of DL E&C's plant business division. "We will actively pursue contract expansion by combining the trust we have built in the plant sector with future core technologies such as hydrogen."


hope@heraldcorp.com