World's first underground thermal power plant to be built in Korea

World's first underground thermal power plant to be built in Korea

A large underground thermal power plant will be built in Korea for the first time in the world. According to Korea Midland Power(KOMIPO), Seoul Thermoelectric Power Plant in Mapo District, western Seoul, will be retired in 2017 and remodeled into a culture and sports complex including a library, museum, performance hall, and gymnasium, while a thermoelectric power plant will be constructed belowground.

The existing power plant on the shore of the Han River is the country's first thermoelectric power plant. It was once a symbol of economic development.

Computer rendering of a new power plant to be built underground and a cultural and

sports complex aboveground(photo courtesy of KOMIPO)

KOMIPO siad hydroelectric power plants or small thermal power plants have been built belowground but this would be the first time that a large thermoelectric power plant is built underground. When it is completed, the new plant will have two power generators capable of producing 400 megawatts each and be able to provide heat for 100,000 households.

The power plant operator said it took the idea from Take Modern, a contemporary art museum housed in the former Bankside Power Station in London.

"It is an innovative concept but it is technologycally feasible." said a KOMIPO official.

According to the official, builiding the power plant underground will not take much longer or cost much more than doing it above ground. KOMIPO said it will cost around ten percent more.

Seoul Thermoelectric Power Plant in the 1980s

when some of the generators were suspended (photo: Yonhap News)

The site will be dug to substratum 30 meters below the ground to build the new plant. Steam pipes will be installed on both sides of the plant to vent steam. Construction is expected to cost KRW one trillion.

The power company said Seoul City sources only three percent of electricity from power plants in Seoul and it is necessary to have a power facility of its own. Now most of the country's power plants are located on the south and west coasts and the fransfer of electricity from distant provinces causes loss of electricity and unstable voltage, it said.

"It will be Seoul's only power plant and provide heat for 100,000 households," said Choi Pyeong-rak, the  CEO of KOMIPO. "We will develop it into a cultural landmark in addition to a power plant."

By Limb Jae-un

Korea.net Staff Writer

Jun2@korea.kr