The reactors of the power plant will be cooled by water taken into the facility through a 770m-long tunnel. Credit: US Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee.
A tunnel boring machine with 1.920kW cutter head power was used for the construction. Credit: VILevi / Shutterstock.

The 2,080MW Goseong Hai power plant, located in Deokho-ri, Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam, South Korea, is an ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired thermal power facility.

Being developed by Goseong Green Power, the facility is South Korea’s biggest privately-owned power plant. Goseong Green Power is jointly run by Korea South-East Power, SK Gas, and KB Kookmin Bank.

Korea South-East Power, with 29% equity participation, will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the power plant for 30 years.

The development of the power plant was started in July 2014 as a part of the 6th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand (BPE), aimed at meeting the country’s energy needs.

The project is scheduled to be completed by early-2021, at an estimated cost of KRW 3.9 trillion ($3.2bn).

Goseong Hai power plant construction

Goseong Hai is being developed on a gross floor area of 0.91 million m², with two power-generating units of 1,040MW each.

A 770m-long tunnel has been constructed for the water intake and discharges from the power plant. The land vertical shaft measures 22m-high and 16m in internal diameter, while the marine caisson measures 50m-high and 13m in internal diameter.

A tunnel boring machine (TBM) of 8,190mm diameter and cutterhead power of 1.920kW was used for the construction. Shale, sandstone, andesite, and tuff rocks were encountered during the tunnelling.

Jacket and deck are also being constructed for the dock of the plant.

Sustainable features of the South Korean power plant

The thermal power plant will use Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) technology for the treatment of wastewater from flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units with a combined treatment capacity of 50m³ an hour. The technology will enable the plant to reuse the entire wastewater.

The TBM utilised for the project was built by professionally remanufactured machine parts, which saved roughly 80% of the energy consumed.

Coal supply for the Goseong Hai power plant

The coal-fired power plant will use sub-bituminous coal with a maximum steam capacity of 868kg/s. Siemen’s Fired Benson® steam generators will be utilised in the plant.

Contractors involved

SK Engineering and Construction (E&C) is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Goseong power plant.

Basic and detailed designing of the plant was performed by ESCO Consultant & Engineers. State-run firm KEPCO E&C was contracted by SK E&C for providing A/E technical service for the project in October 2014.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction received a contract worth $596m to supply boilers and turbines in December 2015.

Herrenknecht supplied the earth pressure balance (EPB) shield for the plant’s construction. SUEZ won a contract to execute the ZLD technology for wastewater treatment.

Woongjin Development installed jacket and deck for the project, while Ajou Engineering provided chemical dosing system and Wascon supplied actuator and accessories.

Dadam Engineering was awarded a contract to perform engineering and procurement of the coal handling system for the plant. The TEAM, a South Korean company, was involved in project planning and scheduling.

Other contractors involved with the Goseong Hai power project include HanmiGlobal, Dong-Ah Geological Engineering Company, Woosung Valve, and Seohee Construction.