Climate Minister Kim Seong-hwan: "Next Year to Mark Start of Industrial Heat Pump Rollout"... Samsung Semiconductor Plant to Use Waste Heat, Too

Ministry of Climate Holds Forum on Decarbonizing Industrial Heat Energy
Industrial Heat Pump R&D Projects Reach Commercialization Stage
Plans Underway to Reuse Waste Heat from Nuclear Power Plants
Heat Pumps Unlikely to Immediately Replace Coal-Fired CHP in Industrial Complexes

Kim Seonghwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, speaks at the “Industry Heat Energy Decarbonization Transition Forum” held at the Han River Flood Control Office on the 29th. Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment

After launching a program this year to promote heat pumps for homes, the government will begin a full-scale program for industrial heat pumps next year. A proposal has also emerged to supply industrial heat energy using waste heat from semiconductor factories and nuclear power plants.

Kim Seong-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, said at the “Industrial Heat Pump Technology Development and Utilization Forum for Decarbonizing Industrial Heat Energy” held at the Han River Flood Control Office in Seoul on October 29, “Having begun to decarbonize heat energy in the residential sector this year, we will make next year the starting point for decarbonizing heat energy in the industrial sector.”

Heat currently used in industrial processes is supplied by operating coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) boilers. In industrial complexes, coal- and LNG-fired combined heat and power plants produce heat and electricity simultaneously and supply them to tenant companies. The government has decided to close coal-fired power plants by 2040 as part of its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, meaning coal-fired combined heat and power in industrial complexes will need to be replaced by other means.

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment expects industrial heat pumps to take on this role. A heat pump supplies thermal energy using heat from ambient air, water, or the ground, together with electricity, without emitting carbon. Heat pumps for homes can provide heating at temperatures of up to about 80°C by using heat from external sources.

However, industrial processes require large quantities of heat at temperatures of 150°C or higher, so high-temperature heating and large-capacity heat pump technologies are needed.

The Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning is conducting three demonstration research and development (R&D) projects through government-funded programs. LG Electronics has developed a 3.5-megawatt (MW), 1,000-refrigeration-ton (RT) heat pump with a large temperature difference and installed it at Ajin P&P for use in its paper-drying process.

Kim Jindu, CEO of Ajin P&P, said, “The heat pump’s coefficient of performance is above 3.6. We expect that, if we recover 100% of the waste heat, we can reduce annual carbon emissions by 42% and energy costs by 38% compared with an LNG boiler.”

Century has developed a high-temperature steam heat pump rated for 180°C and plans to install it in the sterilization process at Dongwon F&B’s Gwangju plant starting next year for demonstration. The product has a capacity of 3 MW and a coefficient of performance of 2.5. Dongwon F&B currently uses LNG steam boilers.

Shinsung Engineering is developing a heat pump that simultaneously produces the heat and chilled water needed to dry battery manufacturing dry rooms.

Korea District Heating Corporation is pursuing heat pump projects that use waste heat from semiconductor factories and nuclear power plants. Shin Dong-in, head of the company’s GX Division, said, “We are preparing a demonstration project to use unused heat at Samsung Electronics’ Giheung Campus.” Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to use heat pumps to raise the temperature of waste heat from its semiconductor factory and reuse it in its manufacturing process. Korea District Heating Corporation is also identifying potential customer companies for a plan to use steam from nuclear power plants.

The Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning said it plans to scale up its heat pump demonstration projects from the current 3 MW to at least 10 MW and pursue R&D to produce heat at temperatures above 200°C using mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) technology. Kim Bong-gyun, head of the institute’s Energy Transition Division, said, “To expand adoption in the industrial sector, we plan to build a track record across a range of fields, including paper, food, and chemicals.”

The Korea Energy Agency plans to invest KRW 6 billion next year in a support program for industrial heat pumps.

Participants at the forum said domestic industrial heat pump technology had reached the commercialization stage. Kim Jindu said, “We are almost at the pre-commercialization stage,” adding, “We plan to make the technology available to the paper industry first.”

However, it appears difficult to immediately replace aging coal-fired combined heat and power plants in industrial complexes with heat pumps. The heat pumps currently under development are designed for individual companies, and their capacity is insufficient to supply heat to an entire industrial complex.

Kim Min-su, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University, said, “We are currently at the stage of developing small-capacity heat pumps for use by individual companies. Larger-capacity heat pumps are needed to replace boilers in industrial complexes.”

Ultimately, industrial heat pumps will need to be validated at the companies developing them, build a track record of reliability, and then be introduced gradually across industrial complexes as large-capacity technologies are developed.

With large-capacity heat pumps for industrial complexes not yet developed, district energy operators running aging coal-fired combined heat and power plants in industrial complexes are calling for the establishment of a capacity market to support a transition to LNG-fired combined heat and power plants. In 2024, the government held a competitive bid for a pilot LNG capacity market program for district energy operators, but has not held another auction since.

At a recent parliamentary audit, lawmakers also called for measures to address aging combined heat and power plants in industrial complexes. Park Hae-cheol, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, urged the government to “accurately reflect demand for the transition of industrial complexes in the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, and promptly finalize the schedule for the main LNG capacity market auction, public-interest evaluation criteria, and measures to oversee project implementation.”

At the forum, Minister Kim Seong-hwan said, “Switching from coal-fired to LNG-fired combined heat and power would have only a limited effect on reducing carbon emissions while increasing costs for customer companies, so it can only be a transitional measure. We are reviewing various ways to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired combined heat and power plants.”

Industrial heat pumps also need to overcome the challenge of economic viability before they can be widely adopted. Yoon Taeyeon, head of the Heat Energy Policy Research Office at the Korea Energy Economics Institute, said, “The burden of electricity costs for heat pumps must be eased so they can compete on price with fossil fuels. Policies to subsidize installation investments should be accompanied by measures to offset the difference in operating costs.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.