Steel and Tech
POSCO ICT announced on Nov. 24 that it has been selected as the operator for a “Smart Industrial Complex Construction Pilot Project” led by Korea Industrial Complex Corp.
The company will carry out a project to improve the energy efficiency of companies in industrial complexes where there are many manufacturers in similar industry clusters such as Banwoul, Sihwa and Changwon. POSCO ICT will provide services to inspect each company’s facilities from the energy efficiency perspective, secure the best operating conditions and monitor the flow of energy consumption in real time.
In addition, the company will supply steam, which is needed by all companies in the industrial complexes, at lower costs than individual production by building common infrastructure and running an integrated control center to monitor the flow of energy consumption for all companies in the complexes.
In a bid to lessen the initial investment burden of joining companies, POSCO ICT will implement a program to support construction costs in advance. The construction cost can be covered with energy cost reduction or divided payments. Also, the company plans to offer ESCO funds, which is the national program to support the investment cost for energy efficiency improvements. An official from POSCO ICT said, “When the energy efficiency system is introduced, it will be possible to recover the investment costs in three to five years, though it varies depending on the size and nature of the companies.”
Moreover, the company is planning to establish a smart grid for industrial complexes in the future. It will allow the company to forecast overall energy demands in the industrial complexes, to consume power that is generated by itself as new eco-friendly renewable energy, including solar power, first, and to be supplied from outside only for power shortages. Furthermore, POSCO ICT plans to expand the system to neighboring industrial complexes so that they can exchange excess energy to independently produce and consume energy, setting up a connected community grid (CCG).
An official from POSO ICT said, “We will use a technology to optimize energy, which can be used in common, according to the characteristics of industrial complexes, with companies in the similar industry cluster. As we enable companies in the complexes to use the system in common, we have minimized the initial investment cost burden of joining companies.”