Supercritical CO₂ Power Cycle Technology Partnership Announced

GTI and Korea Electric Power Research Institute (KEPRI), a unit of Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO), are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further their mutual interests in developing new technologies for supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) power cycles. Such power cycles lend themselves to higher power conversion efficiencies and very compact turbomachinery, resulting in lower capital costs, reduced plant size and footprint, and greater flexibility.

GTI is a leading U.S. research, development, and training organization applying energy and aerospace experience to lower energy costs and provide cleaner sources of fuel and power with technology-based solutions.

Since its foundation as Hansung Electric Power Company in 1898 to its current position as one of the largest electricity providers in the world, KEPCO has been driving Korea's economic and industrial growth as a reliable supplier of electricity.

The organizations have aligned interests, and under this agreement, GTI and KEPRI will explore opportunities for joint research and development on sCO₂ technologies over the next five years. The partners will cooperate, share technical information, and potentially exchange research staff for sCO₂ technology development and commercialization.

"We're pleased to be a part of this collaboration," notes Michael Rutkowski, GTI Senior Vice President, Research and Technology Development. "Transformational sCO₂-based power cycles offer dramatically improved efficiencies, economics, and environmental performance. KEPRI is a pioneering company that shares our focus on technology innovation to efficiently deliver lower-cost electric power with lower emissions. Together we will contribute to a greater understanding of sCO₂-based power generation as a clean, compact, and high-efficiency technology option."

Says Dr. Jung Bin Lee, KEPCO Director General of Climate Change and Environment Laboratory, "KEPCO is very excited about working with GTI. The organization has significant experience in power generation systems and is a recognized gas industry partner worldwide, and these attributes will help us in the global power generation market. We will leverage our complementary skills and expertise to develop new generation systems and advance this technology towards commercial adoption."

Since 2014, KEPCO has been focused on sCO₂ power generation as a key strategic technology, investing in indirectly heated sCO₂ technologies and exploring different heat sources and system capacities. The company is involved in a number of active R&D projects.

KEPCO is a Steering Committee member in the GTI-led Joint Industry Partnership developing the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo. This first-of-a-kind 10 MWe sCO₂ pilot plant will demonstrate a fully integrated functional power cycle in a test facility configured to enable optimization of sCO₂ components and subsystems. When completed, it will be the largest sCO₂ demonstration facility of its kind in the world. With DOE-NETL support, GTI is leading the program development team together with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and General Electric Global Research (GE).