Doosan Enerbility Co. is a leading power plant constructor based in South Korea. The company plans to leverage its expertise in turbine technology to create aviation engines and explore new avenues of growth and corporate expansion.
In a financial regulatory statement released on Tuesday, Doosan Enerbility announced that it has expanded the scope of its business purposes at its annual shareholders’ meeting. The company has included the production, maintenance, sales, and servicing of aircraft engines and propulsion auxiliary equipment in its business activities.
Doosan Enerbility, a company with expertise in power plant gas turbines, aims to accelerate the development of engines for aircraft, particularly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAMs). These gas turbines’ architectures and working principles are comparable to those of aero engines. Sohn Seung-Woo, the director of Doosan Enerbility’s power service BG, stated that the company’s experience in developing, manufacturing, and supplying gas turbines for power generation, along with its physical and human infrastructure, makes it competitive. According to him, the company intends to help develop domestic aircraft engines and prepare to enter international markets.
Doosan Enerbility has acquired key technologies for aircraft engines, including coating and cooling systems that can withstand extreme temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees Celsius. The company plans to leverage its competitive advantages in intellectual property, databases, infrastructure, and essential materials to create, manufacture, and test new aircraft engines.
Doosan Enerbility has already started operating aircraft engines and is involved in the 10,000 (lbf) thrust UAM engine project of the South Korean Agency for Defense Development.
Doosan Enerbility has been assigned two project tasks, one of which is designing the engine layout. This task is considered the most challenging, and the company aims to complete the fundamental design of the engine by the year 2027. Additionally, the government has directed the company to carry out the conceptual design of an advanced aviation engine separately.