CGN debuts South Korea power plant

Marking a strategic maturation in its overseas project delivery, China General Nuclear Power Corp commenced commercial operations at its 557-megawatt Daesan Phase II gas-fired power plant in South Korea on Friday.

As a self-developed greenfield project by CGN in South Korea, the facility boasts a maximum annual power generation capacity of 3.9 billion kilowatt-hours. The project is expected to provide robust support for the local electricity supply while injecting new momentum into regional economic development, it said.

Construction of the project began in October 2023. Breaking away from the traditional engineering, procurement, and construction model, the South Korean subsidiary of CGN Energy International Holdings Co Ltd adopted an autonomous management approach for project design and procurement.

Industry analysts noted that the project is particularly notable for its future-proof design.

This technical capability closely aligns with South Korea's national decarbonization roadmap, as the country is pushing to establish a nationwide hydrogen ecosystem to slash emissions and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.

"Gas-fired power plants equipped with hydrogen-blending capabilities are critical 'bridge assets' for industrial economies," said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.

"They provide the immediate, dispatchable baseload power required by highly advanced, electricity-intensive sectors like semiconductors and AI, while laying the essential technical groundwork for a zerocarbon power grid once the green hydrogen supply chain matures."

Lin added that while renewables are now the leading replacement for fossil fuel demand, gas is also seen in some countries as a "bridging" fuel to move away from coal use.

China's gas capacity, for example, may rise from approximately 150 gigawatts in 2025 to 200 GW by 2030, according to Bloomberg.

According to CGN, the independent management model successfully streamlined the entire business workflow. The subsidiary independently implemented design management, main and auxiliary equipment procurement, manufacturing supervision, construction management, and final commissioning.

This in-house approach not only yielded a cost advantage of approximately 10 percent but also deeply integrated more than 100 local South Korean enterprises into the project's supply chain, fostering synergistic industrial development within the host country, it said.

During construction, the project site also promoted "smart factory" practices and deployed advanced building techniques, including factory prefabrication and the self-jacking installation of main equipment.

These innovations saved approximately 14,400 man-days and boosted overall construction efficiency by roughly 15 percent compared to traditional methods, said Zhang Chaoqun, chairman of CGN Energy International Holdings Co Ltd.

"The Daesan Phase II project serves as a crucial vehicle for driving greenfield project transformation and exploring the autonomous management of large-scale overseas power plants," said Zhang.

The plant's gas turbine is equipped with the capability to undergo modifications for up to 30 percent hydrogen-blended fuel combustion. Once the green hydrogen supply chain matures, this hydrogen-blending capability will emerge as an important potential driver for future profit growth, he added.

To date, CGN owns and operates five power plants in South Korea, with a total installed capacity exceeding 2.2 million kW. The company stated it will continue to leverage its technological and managerial advantages in clean energy to facilitate South Korea's green and low-carbon transition, ensuring a secure and stable power supply for the region.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn