- New initiative with SK ecoplant in South Korea marks Bloom’s first foray into CHP, with recovered heat benefiting a local community center
SAN JOSE, Calif. –– Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) today announced its first Combined Heat and Power (CHP) project in collaboration with SK ecoplant (formerly known as SK Engineering and Construction). The new 4.2-megawatt (MW) installation marks South Korea’s first-ever utility-scale solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) CHP initiative.
CHP technology simultaneously utilizes both the electricity it generates and the excess thermal energy it emits to recover and reuse the heat that would have otherwise been lost during the power generation process. Coupled with a heat recovery system designed by SK ecoplant, the captured thermal energy will provide heat and warm water to the community’s nearby Bukpyung Recreational and Sports Center, improving the building’s energy efficiency. The project is also intended to reduce CO2 emissions compared to relying on the local grid alternative.
With construction expected to begin later this year, the new 4.2 MW utility-scale CHP installation will leverage Bloom’s SOFC technology configured in an innovative Power Tower format. Designed for maximum power density in a condensed footprint, the Power Tower will vertically stack 1.8 MW of Bloom Energy Servers in a pillar architecture.
To be located in Donghae City, the power generated by Bloom Energy will produce 35,000-megawatt hours per year of highly efficient, clean and resilient electricity, while capturing 4 million megacalories of thermal energy through the Power Tower and SK ecoplant’s heat recovery system.
“We are thrilled to partner with SK ecoplant to bring this innovative and exciting project to life, marking a new milestone for Bloom Energy,” said Venkat Venkataraman, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Bloom Energy. “Not only can we efficiently generate clean and reliable energy for an important utility, Korea East-West Power, but also we are eager and humbled to supply heat to the local community center so that residents can enjoy activities during harsh winter months.”
Bloom Energy’s highly efficient solid oxide technology uses a non-combustion, electrochemical process to produce electricity with reduced carbon emissions compared to the grid alternative and with virtually no harmful smog-forming particulate matter.
“This project marks significant ‘firsts’ for us all – for SK, for Bloom and for South Korea,” said Justin Wangjae Lee, executive vice president and head of the hydrogen biz center, SK ecoplant. “We look forward to working with Bloom to continue to advance thermally-supplied SOFC solutions. In addition to our existing eco-friendly distributed power generation, we’re excited to explore entry into new, attractive global markets, such as Southeast Asia.”
Bloom Energy intends to make CHP available in all markets where the company currently operates, subject to its applicability for each specific project.
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About Bloom Energy
Bloom Energy’s mission is to make clean, reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world. The company’s product, the Bloom Energy Server, delivers highly reliable and resilient, always-on electric power that is clean, cost-effective, and ideal for microgrid applications. Bloom’s customers include many Fortune 100 companies and leaders in manufacturing, data centers, healthcare, retail, higher education, utilities, and other industries. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com.
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