Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Korea’s largest hydrogen production complex opens in Pyeongtaek City

A hydrogen production complex capable of supplying fuel for 410,000 hydrogen cars annually has opened in Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The facility is the first of its kind in the Korean capital region and the second in the nation after the facility in Changwon City – the capital of South Gyeongsang Province – which has been operating since the end of last year.

Gyeonggi Province expects that the Pyeongtaek complex will become a bridgehead in the hydrogen energy era.

“The Pyeongtaek complex will be the largest hydrogen production base in South Korea, producing more than seven tons of hydrogen a day,” Gyeonggi Province Governor Dong Yeon Kim said. “I have no doubt that this complex will play a key role in the carbon neutral era.”

Following the construction of the hydrogen production complex, Gyeonggi Province and Pyeongtaek City plan to build a hydrogen transportation complex connected to hydrogen refueling stations near Pyeongtaek Port and to create a “hydrogen city” that uses hydrogen as its main energy source. The Pyeongtaek complex was selected in December 2019 for the Hydrogen Production Complex Construction Project promoted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

This complex will produce hydrogen by reforming natural gas supplied from the Pyeongtaek LNG receiving base. From August, up to seven tons of hydrogen are slated for production per day – approximately 2,450 tons a year. This is the largest production amount in South Korea, capable of fully refueling 1,200 hydrogen cars a day – approximately 410,000 vehicles per year.

Most of the 33 hydrogen refueling stations currently operating in the Korean capital region (20 in Gyeonggi Province, seven in Seoul, and six in Incheon) are supplied with hydrogen from remote locations such as Daesan, Ulsan, and Yeosu, which are more than 120 km away on average. As the completion of this complex stands to substantially reduce hydrogen transportation costs, the provincial government expects the hydrogen supply price in the capital region area to drop as well.

The ministry plans to complete the currently planned establishment of seven small-scale hydrogen production bases (natural gas-based) within this year so as to realize carbon neutrality and to additionally support the construction of clean hydrogen production bases with water electrolysis and carbon capture functions by 2026.