SK gas to begin operations of world’s 1st combined cycle power plant in 2024

SK gas Co. construction site of Gas Power Solution (GPS) in Nam District in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province [Photo provided by SK gas]

South Korea’s SK gas Co. is moving a step closer to becoming the world’s first operator of a plant that uses both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel.

Maeil Business Newspaper made a recent visit to the construction site of Gas Power Solution (GPS) in Nam District in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province. Once the construction is complete in the second half of next year, the transmission towers will send the electricity produced from the site to nearby substations.

About 1,000 workers were engaged in the construction on Wednesday. SK gas invested 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion) in the construction of GPS, which will be the world’s first combined cycle power plant that can use both LNG and LPG as fuel.

Nearly 80 percent of the construction of the combined cycle power plant - which is being built in an area of 140,000 square meters - has been completed this month. It will be test operated early next year with an aim to begin commercial operations in August.

The plant is expected to boast an annual capacity of 8.6 million megawatt hours, an amount that can power 2.8 million households.

The total number of households in Ulsan is projected at 450,000 in 2025, which means the capacity will be sufficient to power more than six times the entire households in Ulsan.

“The power plant can use both LNG and LPG, so it can adjust the input of each fuel according to market prices,” said Cho Seung-ho, chief executive officer of Ulsan GPS. “It has the advantage of maximizing economical aspects.”

Relatively inexpensive LPG input can be increased when LNG is expensive, and vice versa, to actively respond to the changes in the energy market. Up to 30 percent of hydrogen enriched combustion is also a possibility, which allows the company to prepare for a green hydrogen era.

SK gas CEO Yoon Byung-suk [Photo provided by SK gas]

SK gas has easy access to both fuels because of the infrastructure it has built in Ulsan.

The company has the world’s largest storage base nearby that can hold 270,000 tons of LPG. It also has three tanks in construction that can store 215,000 kiloliters of LNG near the Korea Energy Terminal (KET).

The power plant and the storage bases are all within 4 to 5 kilometers distance, which makes transportation easy and minimizes natural loss during transportation. Large-scale electricity demand from the Ulsan national industrial complex is also guaranteed.

Ulsan GPS has recently completed installing two gas turbines and one steam turbine, core equipment for power generation, with a capacity of 410.5 megawatts and 406 megawatts each.

The gas turbine and steam turbine are 4.8 meters and 5.4 meters, respectively, in diameter, and weigh 250-380 tons. They cost about 100 billion won per unit.

The gas turbine generates primary electricity by using both LNG and LPG. The steam turbine can also help generate additional electricity with the high-temperature, high-pressure steam it gains from boiled water by putting high-temperature exhaust gas into the heat recovery boiler.

SK gas CEO Yoon Byung-suk, in the meantime, presented “SK gas Business Shift Story 2.0” on Thursday in Ulsan.

Business Shift 1.0 with a timeframe between 2012 and 2020 was a model for diversification of the LPG portfolio to include industrial use.

Business Shift 2.0, on the other hand, is aimed at expanding Ulsan GPS not only in Korea but also overseas. SK gas plans to invest 2 trillion won by 2026 for this purpose.

“The Ulsan model aims to contribute to the energy stability of the nation as a whole, not just SK Group and its customers,” Yoon said. “We will be able to respond to future changes amid rising demand for new renewable energy.”