HHI to build solar plant in Seosan

A solar power plant in Arizona uses 142 megawatt modules supplied by Hyundai Heavy Industries Green Energy. The company will supply the modules for the new Seosan plant. [HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES]

Two affiliates of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group have won a 100 billion won contract to build solar power plants in Seosan, South Chungcheong.

The shipbuilding group won the contract from Hyundai Engineering & Construction. When completed the Seosan plant will be the largest land-based solar power plant built in Korea.

The group’s affiliated solar panel maker Hyundai Heavy Industries Green Energy will supply the modules and equipment to build the 65 megawatt plant while Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems will build a 130 megawatt hour energy storage system in Seosan.

The selected 960,000-square-meter (10.3 million-square-feet) site is part of a patch of land reclaimed from the sea by the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung in 1984. Chung’s Hyundai Group has now been separated in to various Hyundai-titled conglomerates like Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group and Hyundai Group.

The sunlight absorbing panels are expected to be installed in Seosan this year, with commercial production of the plant set to begin from next year. The sun-powered plant will generate energy enough to power 22,000 households at once, according to Hyundai, and store double that energy in the energy storage system. The facility is used to save energy for later use.

The solar business is still small compared to other parts of the shipbuilding group. According to the company, revenue from the renewable energy business accounted for roughly 1.7 percent of the group’s consolidated earnings last year. However, it is a promising business area that the group is banking on.

Hyundai’s green energy affiliate entered the solar business in 2004. It has two photovoltaic test centers approved by certifying agencies UL of the United States and the VDE Institute of Germany. In 2014, it was named as the Tier-I solar module company by the Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“We plan to aggressively tackle the solar business at home and abroad together with Hyundai Electric, with this order as a stepping stone,” said Kang Chul-ho, CEO of Hyundai Heavy Industries Green Energy.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]