Press Release

Doosan Enerbility will be embarking on a project together with Korea Southern Power (KOSPO), one that involves the lifetime extension of gas turbines using homegrown technology.

On August 23rd, Doosan Enerbility announced that it had signed a contract with KOSPO for the lifetime extension of Busan Combined Cycle Power Plant’s gas turbine rotors. A rotor is a circular structure composed of multiple rotating blades. As a key component of gas turbines, the rotor operates in high temperatures that go up to approximately 1300°C or higher, while the rotor blades rotate at a high speed, going as fast as 3600 times a minute.

As the lifetime extension of gas turbine rotors requires the highest level of technical expertise, this was an area that had been mostly dominated by global gas turbine OEM companies. Doosan Enerbility has ceaselessly built up on its technical competencies and competitiveness over the years, which led to the company successfully winning this recent contract. The project is particularly noteworthy as ultra-high strength inconel alloys are to be used in the lifetime extension of the rotors, making Doosan Enerbility the first company in the world, aside from the gas turbine OEMs, to employ this method.

KOSPO, which is engaged in various collaboration initiatives to promote the Korean gas turbine industry, currently operates the largest number of gas turbines in Korea. By providing the Korean gas turbine sector with the opportunity to participate in this project for lifetime extension of gas turbine rotors, this has laid the foundation for the domestic companies to venture into the global gas turbine services market in the future.

“We find it truly meaningful to be able to participate in KOSPO’s gas turbine rotor lifetime extension project, thereby getting the chance to contribute to the efficient operation of power plants,” said Hongook Park, CEO of Doosan Enerbility’s Power Services Business Group. He added, “We plan to successfully carry out this project and will be working together with the domestic gas turbine industry to actively penetrate the global market for the gas turbine lifetime extension business.”

Doosan Enerbility is expanding its efforts for targeting the domestic and global gas turbine services market. In 2018, Doosan had signed a long term service agreement for gas turbines with Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV), a US-based privately owned electricity supplier, and is currently carrying out lifetime extension work on the gas turbines. Furthermore, in 2019, Doosan had together with Korea East-West Power performed maintenance work on the gas turbine exhaust cylinders at the Ulsan Combined Cycle Power Plant.