Boryeong power station

From Global Energy Monitor

Boryeong power station (보령 발전소) is an operating power station of at least 4400-megawatts (MW) in Poryong-gun, Ocheon, Poryong, South Chungcheong, South Korea with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Poryong power station, 보령 발전소.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Boryeong power station Poryong-gun, Ocheon, Poryong, South Chungcheong, South Korea 36.400853, 126.490831 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7, Unit 8: 36.400853, 126.490831
  • Unit CC1, Unit CC2, Unit CC3, Unit CC5, Unit CC6: 36.40085, 126.49083

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal - bituminous 500 subcritical 1983 2020
Unit 2 retired coal - bituminous 500 subcritical 1984 2020
Unit 3 operating coal - bituminous 550 supercritical 1993 2043 (planned)
Unit 4 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1993 2043 (planned)
Unit 5 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1993 2026 (planned)
Unit 6 operating coal - bituminous 500 supercritical 1994 2026 (planned)
Unit 7 operating coal - bituminous 500 ultra-supercritical 2008 2038 (planned)
Unit 8 operating coal - bituminous 500 ultra-supercritical 2008 2038 (planned)
Unit CC1 operating[1] liquefied natural gas[2] 450[1] combined cycle[3] no[4] 2002[5]
Unit CC2 operating[1] liquefied natural gas[2] 450[1] combined cycle[3] no[4] 2002[5]
Unit CC3 operating[1] liquefied natural gas[2] 450[1] combined cycle[3] no[4] 2002[5]
Unit CC5 pre-construction[6][7][8][9] liquefied natural gas[10] 500[11] not found not found 2025[12]
Unit CC6 announced[13][7] liquefied natural gas[14] 500[15] not found not found 2025[12]

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 2 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 3 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 4 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 5 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 6 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 7 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit 8 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd (KOMIPO) [100.0%]
Unit CC1 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd[16][3][3] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) [100.0%]
Unit CC2 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd[16][3][3] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) [100.0%]
Unit CC3 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd[16][3][3] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) [100.0%]
Unit CC5 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd[16][3] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) [100.0%]
Unit CC6 Korea Midland Power Co Ltd[16][3] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) [100.0%]

Background

The power station is separate from the Shin Boryeong power station (신보령화력).

The Boryeong power station consists of 8 coal-fired units of 500 MW each, built from 1979 to 2009, for a combined capacity of 4,000 MW. The scrubbers on Units 3-6 were retrofitted in the late 1990s. It is owned by KOMIPO.[17] The power station was located just two kilometers from the community center.[18]

Units 1-2, which are subcritical, were planned for retirement in 2025.[19] In May 2017 President Moon Jae-in said the two units will be shut down by 2022,[20] later moved to 2021,[21] and then December 2020. They were retired in December 2020 as planned.[22]

As of 2020, the two units were expected to be replaced by an LNG plant.[23] However, the Government’s 9th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand 2020-2034 (“연차별 석탄 폐지 및 LNG 전환 계획” section) highlighted an LNG Conversion for Units 5 and 6 by 2025 instead.[24] The gas proposal, expected to come online in 2025, was for two LNG-fueled units of 500MW each.[24]

The Plan (“발전설비 건설계획표” section) also noted a 50 MW expansion at Unit 3 in 2020.[24] The KOMIPO website confirms that the coal plant includes one 550 MW unit.[25]

In August 2021, the Electricity Commission approved conversion from coal to gas at Unit 5, which is seen as the first step in licensing and permitting to convert coal power generation to LNG power generation.[26]

In 2021, there were three 450 MW combined-cycle units operating on LNG fuel at the site. Originally, four units were installed. However, Unit 4 was relocated to KOMIPO's Incheon power station in 2009.[27]

In April 2023, the "10th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand" extended the planned dates of retirement for Units 5 and 6 a year further, from 2025 to 2026.[28]

Scheduled retirements and conversions

Units 3 and 4 were scheduled to close by 2043; Units 5 and 6 were scheduled to close by 2025; Units 7 & 8 were scheduled to close by 2038.[29][24]

Unit 5 is scheduled to be replaced by an LNG combined cycle power plant in 2026, as well as Unit 6 which is planned to be replaced at an unspecified date.[30] By September 2023, the construction contract for the combined cycle replacement unit (of Unit 5) had been awarded.[31]

Hydrogen co-firing plans

October 2023 reports stated that Korea Midland Power Company had been conducting trials of co-firing hydrogen within gas-fired power generation units.[32] Ko Energy stated that the company expected to be co-firing hydrogen at a rate of 30% by the second half of 2027.

Working conditions

As of 2022, several articles have highlighted work life at the plant. In April, a plant employee stated that unit closures and transitions to LNG were causing thousands of workers to lose their jobs.[33] In May, workers protested that the new Serious Accident Punishment Act was leading to over-surveillance of the day-to-day rather than actually making the power station safer.[34] In June, a fire occurred at the plant in the middle of the night.[35]

In February 2023, it was reported that a coal plant worker had fallen to his death at an unloading facility at the plant, allegedly due to a damaged scaffolding. [36] This happened four years after another on-the-job death of a contracted worker in 2018.[36]

Community opposition and impact

In 2021, residents near the plant led protests related to the plant – including its northern ash disposal site – and flagged high cancer rates in surrounding communities.[37][38]

In November 2022, a news article highlighted that the power station had negatively affected the surrounding community's livelihood and health. Residents recounted that the size of shellfish has decreased, and incidences of chronic illness had increased. One community member stated (Google translate): “If you sweep the ground with your hands like this when it is not raining, it will be black... There are no gentlemen who are not sick... and when they say they're dead, it's cancer." Rates of respiratory illness-related death in Chungcheongnam-do were 1.5 times higher than the national average of South Korea.[18]

In January 2023, a five year study in Chungcheongnam-do revealed that the concentration of mercury and cadmium in urine increased the closer residents lived to Boryeong power station. Rates were also elevated for cancer, skin disease and anxiety.[39]

A health impact survey in 2022 revealed increased rates of gastric cancer and liver cancer for residents in proximity to the power station. [40]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20221006114538/http://home.kepco.co.kr/kepco/KO/ntcob/list.do?menuCd=FN05030103&boardCd=BRD_000099. Archived from the original on 06 October 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20220823005011/https://www.komipo.co.kr/kor/content/29/main.do?mnCd=FN021102. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 https://web.archive.org/web/20220819204103/https://www.komipo.co.kr/eng/content/194/main.do?mnCd=EN010401. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "KEPCO 2019". Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20220118220639/https://www.engineerlive.com/content/20197. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. SK PDP 10: SK PDP 10: https://www.kier.re.kr/resources/download/tpp/policy_230113_data.pdf
  7. 7.0 7.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20220705174636/https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/energy-transition/010322-south-korea-retires-two-oldest-coal-fired-power-plants-to-replace-with-lng. Archived from the original on 05 July 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20230925023157/https://www.newspim.com/news/view/20230905000852. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20240108202707/https://m.dnews.co.kr/m_home/view.jsp?idxno=202304171359506890237. Archived from the original on 08 January 2024. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. SK PDP 10: https://www.kier.re.kr/resources/download/tpp/policy_230113_data.pdf
  11. SK PDP 10: https://www.kier.re.kr/resources/download/tpp/policy_230113_data.pdf
  12. 12.0 12.1 "South Korea Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, The 9th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand (2020 - 2034)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  13. SK PDP 10: SK PDP 10: https://www.kier.re.kr/resources/download/tpp/policy_230113_data.pdf
  14. SK PDP 10: https://www.kier.re.kr/resources/download/tpp/policy_230113_data.pdf
  15. SK PDP 10: https://www.kier.re.kr/resources/download/tpp/policy_230113_data.pdf
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20220129111950/http://m.ceoscoredaily.com/m/m_article.html?no=68383. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "Coal-Fired Power Plants in South Korea," Industcards, accessed February 2015
  18. 18.0 18.1 "석탄발전소 절반 모인 충남, 호흡기 질환 심각," Danbi News, November 19, 2022
  19. "30년 이상 노후 석탄발전 10기 폐지," motie, July 6, 2016
  20. "Korea to Permanently Shut down 3 Old Coal Power Plants by Year's End," Korea Economic Daily, May 31, 2017
  21. "S.Korea to close 6 older coal-fired power plants by 2021, from planned 2022," Reuters, October 31, 2019
  22. "Boryeong Thermal Power Plant Units 1 and 2 closed," SBS News, December 30, 2020
  23. "중부발전, 보령 LNG발전소 건설 준비 ‘속도전’," CEo Score Daily, April 13, 2020
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 The 9th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand (2020 - 2034), South Korea Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, December 28, 2020
  25. “국내 최초의 국산화 표준 석탄화력발전소,” KOMIPO, accessed November 2021
  26. “당진 3·4호기, 보령5호기 발전사업 변경허가 획득…'LNG 전환' 속도,” etnews, August 5, 2021
  27. MARMADUKE AWARD: KOMIPO Relocates an Entire Combined Cycle Power Plant, Power Mag, Aug 1, 2014
  28. 보령화력 5.6호기 수명 연장...윤석열 정부 기후위기 대응 시계 거꾸로, CCNewsp, April 22, 2023
  29. Assessing the Health Benefits of a Paris-Aligned Coal Phase Out for South Korea, Annex II (Unit-level phase out schedules), Climate Analytics, May 2021
  30. 중부발전, 2000억 규모 보령신복합발전소 6월 발주], M.dnew.co.kr, April 18, 2023
  31. HJ중공업, 1900억 규모 보령발전소 건설공사 수주, News Pim, Sept. 5, 2023
  32. Korea Midland Power Company succeeds in 50% hydrogen co-firing test at Boryeong Power Plant, Ko-Energy, Oct. 11, 2023
  33. "석탄발전소 4,911명 어디로?…“확실한 건 문 닫는단 것뿐”," KBS News, April 28, 2022
  34. "'중대재해처벌법' 시행 곧 100일…"사고 예방대책 부족"," SBS News, May 4, 2022
  35. "보령화력발전소 화재," Yonhap News Agency, June 25, 2022
  36. 36.0 36.1 "김용균 항소심 선고일에…보령 발전소 노동자 추락사," Khan.co.kr, Feb. 9, 2023
  37. “보령화력 북회처리장 환경오염 논란,” daejonilbo, October 24, 2021
  38. “보령화력 북부회처리장 26만평 지하에 차수벽 미설치 수십 년간 운영 의혹제기,” dynews, November 7, 2021
  39. “충남도내 석탄화력발전소 주변주민 요중에서 수은·카드뮴 농도 '↑',” DiscoveryNews, January 3, 2023
  40. "보령화력 5.6호기 수명 연장...윤석열 정부 기후위기 대응 시계 거꾸로," News-story.co.kr, April 22, 2023

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.