A view of the KDHC pavilion during the Korea Energy Show 2017 that took place at the KINTEX from Sept. 19 to 22.

President Kim Kyung-won of Korea District Heating Corp. (Photos: KDHC)

The Korea District Heating Corp. (KDHC) is considered to be synonymous with the Korean community energy industry. The predecessor of the KDHC was established as the nation’s first home and commercial district heat business operator in 1986. It shifted into a public entity with the current name in May 1992 in accordance with the enactment of the Community Energy Business Act. The corporation is the nation’s largest district heating business operator with 18 business sites 12 in the Seoul metropolitan area and six in provincial districts covering 1.44 million apartment housing units and 2,260 commercial buildings.

In a word, the community energy business operator simultaneously produces and supplies electricity and heat. Combined-cycle units generate electricity using 50 percent of the energy they get by burning liquefied natural gas, and supplies the remainder as heat, hot water and heating energies to households and commercial buildings. 

The KDHC’s combined cycle power units are eco-friendly, with a reduction in energy consumption, greenhouse gas and fine dust emissions. The benefits they bring to society are estimated to amount to 9 trillion won annually. 

The KDHC has so far made strenuous efforts to expand eco-friendly power generation. On top of solar energy, the corporation generates power using heat caused by burning of regionally thrown garbage, methane gas from landfill sites, bio gas, geothermal heat, and other new and renewable energies. 

For instance, the corporation produces 1,585MEh of electricity annually by operating photovoltaic power facilities in Daegu, Shinan, Bungdang, Pangyo, Suwon and Yangsan. Incineration produces 1.682 million Gcal of heat and steam caused by burning generates 81,000MWh of electricity annually. Landfill gas and bio gas produce 11,000MWh of power per year. 

The KDHC is accelerating efforts to develop eco-friendly energies. The corporation is join forces with outside related institutions to explore new and renewable energies. For instance, the corporation signed an agreement on the expanding of port new and renewable energies with the Incheon Port Authority and Korea South-East Power (KOEN) on Sept. 22. Under the deal, the three will work on the exploration of new and renewable energies using sunlight and winds, unlimited resources of the ocean and ports. They have agreed to set up eco-friendly new and renewable energy facilities in idle backwater areas of Incheon Port. The project is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create new jobs and contribute to the reinvigoration of the regional economy. 

The KDHC participated in the Korea Energy Show 2017 in KINTEX in Goyang, north of Seoul, in September to show off latest new and renewable technologies, including carbon capture utilization technology using tidal waves. 

Spearheading Integrity Management

The KDHC is a front-runner in the integrity category. For example, the corporation earned the 1st class grade in the 2016 survey of integrity among public entities by the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission in January. 

KDHC Signs MOU on Technology Cooperation in District Heating with AGFW

Two sides agree to explore ways of promoting cooperation, including joint research on 4G district heating technologies

The Korea District Heating Corp. (KDHC) signed an MOU on cooperation in the district heating technology sector, including 4G district heating, and joint research with the German district heating association AGFW in Rosenheim, Germany, on April 25.

The agreement calls for the KDHC, the nation’s biggest community energy provider, and the AGFW, the biggest district heating operator in Europe, to promote cooperation in mutual technology exchanges for the pursuit of G4 district heating, combining with new and renewable energies. 

The KDHC is aggressively implementing new projects in line with the central and local governments’ policies to expand new and renewable energies. The corporation is considering introducing a “G$” district heating system, now in place in Europe.

More than 500 member companies in Germany and other European countries are affiliated with the AGFW, which is promoting the spread of district cooling and heating by providing policy support to central and local governments, conducting R&D activities in the district cooling and heating sector, and hosting district cooling and heating technology fairs.