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Honeywell's Experion chosen for Korean hydro power plant retrofit

09/07/2007

CHUNCHEON, South Korea – Honeywell has announced an agreement to automate production at Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Plant Co.’s (KHNP) hydro power plant in Chuncheon. The $2.1-million agreement with contractor Halla E&E calls for Honeywell to supply its Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) R300 to more efficiently manage operations – everything from turbine operation to dam control – and improve business performance at the 145 GWh per year facility.

KHNP is Korea’s largest electric power company and supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s electricity. Located on the Bukhan River in the northern area of South Korea, the Chuncheon facility is one of KHNP’s nine hydro power plants in the country. In addition to electricity, the plant provides water for homes, farms and industry and plays an important role in flood control. 

Currently, the facility operates on a decentralized control system. Experion, which ties together critical subsystems throughout a facility, will increase efficiency at the plant by giving operators greater access to critical information from a single point. For example, operators can remotely control the dam gates from the Experion operating console in the main control room and monitor the turbine operation from the same station. With this greater access to information, KHNP’s people, process and assets can be more effective, resulting in improved productivity and reduced costs.

“Tying together systems at a 42-year-old facility poses great challenges, but the payoff for KHNP will be even greater,” said Soon-Tai Kim, Hydro Power Manager of KNHP. “Honeywell is an ideal partner for this project because of its ability to meet tight project schedules, to improve plant profitability with solutions that drive reliability and efficiency, and its overall integration expertise.”

In addition to Experion, Honeywell also will provide project management and engineering services. The upgrade is scheduled for completion in mid-2009.

“Across the world, there is a greater demand for cleaner energy, and shifting the Chuncheon facility’s current operations to an integrated approach is an effective way to meet that demand,” said Simon Park, regional general manager for Honeywell Process Solutions Korea. “Experion will give the operators more insight into how the plant is functioning. This can lead to better decisions that make the plant more reliable and efficient, enhancing its value and giving KHNP a competitive edge in hydro power production.”