part 1: overview of cogeneration and its status in asia - Fire

Cogeneration in Asia today 61
1.7 Republic of Korea 8
The rapid economic growths associated with industrialization in the last three decades have
resulted in sharp increase in power and energy demand. To cope with this, the government
has been actively involved in adopting ways and means for using energy more efficiently,
conserving energy through recovery of waste energy, supplying reliable energy at low cost,
and supplying energy more effectively in a decentralized manner to industrial zones and
satellite cities.
A major outcome of these efforts has been the widespread development of cogeneration
since the 1980s. This is proven by the fact that the share of power generation of cogenerated
plant over the total generating capacity has sharply increased from 4.6 per cent in 1985 to 20
per cent in 1995 (see Figure 1.4).
Cogeneration development that has taken place in the Republic of Korea can be classified
into 4 distinct categories: industries, high-rise buildings, industrial estates, and district heating
networks. The total number of cogeneration plants in these four areas was 90 units in 1995,
with a cumulative power generation capacity of 6,225 MW.
Share of cogeneration, %
25
20
15
10
5
0
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95
Year
Figure 1.4 Share of electricity from cogeneration over total grid system
The industrial sector has seen rapid growth in cogeneration. As of 1995, there were about 60
units in operation, with an aggregated capacity of 2,534 MW. These plants were adopted by
the sub-sectors that have helped in the industrialization process, namely steel, petrochemical,
refinery, textile, pulp and paper, and food industries. Data for 1994 shows that the
industry sector had a captive power generation capacity of 3,056 MW and a total of 19,938
GWh was generated. Steel mills alone accounted for one-half of the total installed capacity.
High-rise buildings constructed in recent years have high demands for heating, ventilation and
air conditioning, and are therefore ideal clients of cogeneration. As of 1995, there were 7
cogeneration facilities developed with a total power generating capacity of 59.1 MW.
Industrial complexes have been developed to induce small and medium scale enterprises and
government has a policy to encourage the setting up of cogeneration facilities to supply
different forms of energy to individual factories within the industrial zone. A target has been set
to adopt cogeneration systems in 33 industrial complexes by 2001. Financial assistance and
tax incentives are extended to individual firms that invest in such projects. Loans with
8 R.T.Lee, “Cogeneration projects for industrial sector as well as residential/commercial sector in the
developing countries”, Paper presented at the 1996 Cogeneration in Asia Conference, AIC Conferences,
Singapore, 25-27 November 1996.