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South Korean Minister of Trade Sung Yoon-mo, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun and Minister of Environment Han Jeoung-ae pose for a portrait during a third meeting of the hydrogen economy council at SK Incheon Petrochem. (provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

SK, Hyundai Motor, POSCO, Hanwha and Hyosung are planning to invest a total of 43.4 trillion won (US$38.6 billion) through 2030 in all areas of the hydrogen economy, ranging from production and distribution to storage and use.

They plan to usher South Korea past the US, Japan and Germany at the early market stage to achieve the world’s top hydrogen industry as leading domestic companies seek to become leading hydrogen businesses with intensive government support.

During the first half of the year, CEOs of leading hydrogen companies such as Hyundai Motor and SK plan to form a “Korean hydrogen committee” — essentially a private-sector economic group for hydrogen-related businesses.

The South Korean government held a third meeting of its hydrogen economy council at an SK Incheon Petrochem factory Tuesday, with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun and SK Chairman Chey Tae-won in attendance. During the meeting, council members voted to approve plans for private investment in the hydrogen economy along with government support.

The plans submitted to the government by major companies have them investing a total of 43.4 trillion won (US$38.6 billion) in the hydrogen economy by 2030.

This includes investments of 18.5 trillion won (US$16.4 billion) by SK in fuel cell power plants and other areas; 11.1 trillion won (US$9.8 billion) by Hyundai Motor in hydrogen vehicles and other areas; 10 trillion won (US$8.9 billion) by POSCO in areas including hydrogen reduction steelmaking; 1.3 trillion won (US$1.1 billion) by Hanwha in areas such as green hydrogen production; and 1.2 trillion won (US$1 billion) by Hyosung in hydrogen liquefaction plants and other areas.

Middle-market companies and SMEs also reported plans to the government for over 1 trillion won (US$891 million) in investment in parts and specialized areas.

“We received information from individual companies on their investment timelines, scale and targets on condition of confidentiality,” explained the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

“The companies provided plans that were concrete and detailed,” it added.

During the meeting that day, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said, “The fact that companies representing the South Korean economy in areas such as energy, steel, chemicals and automobiles have made plans for 43 trillion won (US$38.6 billion) in hydrogen economy investments signifies that hydrogen — something previously confined to the laboratory — has reached an inflection point toward becoming the market economy’s mainstream.”

The number of domestically supplied hydrogen vehicles last year amounted to 10,945 for South Korea, 8,801 for the US, 3,982 for Japan and 374 for Germany. Power plant fuel cell supplies last year amounted to 600 megawatts (MW) for South Korea, 482MW for the US and 313MW for Japan.

SK shared a blueprint Tuesday for becoming the world’s top-ranking eco-friendly hydrogen business. Focusing mainly on SK E&S, the plan includes building a liquefied hydrogen production base — a 43,000-square-meter (10 acres) site within the SK Incheon Petrochem complex, with an investment of 500 billion won (US$445 million) — to achieve the world’s largest scale of production at 30,000 tons per year through 2023, mainly through byproduct hydrogen.

It also includes the production of an additional 250,000 tons of clean hydrogen per year by 2025 through the removal of carbon dioxide from liquefied natural gas (LNG). The company is investing 5.3 trillion won (US$4.7 billion) in the effort, which is to be pursued in the region near Boryeong LNG Terminal.

Hyosung, for its part, also plans to build a large-scale hydrogen liquefaction plant with an annual production of 10,000 tons by June 2023 at its Ulsan factory.

Another notable development was the plan to establish a “Korean hydrogen committee” — a hydrogen economy association bringing together CEOs from the leading hydrogen economy businesses.

The government explained that this would be a “consultative group for cooperation of hydrogen projects, making proposals concerning improvements to hydrogen industry-related regulations and systems as well as taxation and safety standards while also working to identify possible joint projects.” The management at Hyundai Motor and SK plans to pursue the hydrogen committee’s establishment during the first half of 2021.

Businesses also plan to launch a diverse range of hydrogen mobility beyond hydrogen cars between 2022 and 2025, including metropolitan buses, trucks, forklifts, excavators and small ships. The government is furnishing a budget of 824.4 billion won (US$735 million) toward hydrogen mobility and related areas this year.

It also plans to apply for a pre-feasibility study toward the establishment of specialized hydrogen integration complexes in different regions, including Incheon (biohydrogen and byproduct hydrogen production), North Jeolla Province (green hydrogen production at Saemangeum), Ulsan (hydrogen mobility), North Gyeongsang Province (hydrogen fuel cells) and Gangwon Province (liquefied hydrogen storage and transportation).

“Our technological capabilities in finished product sectors such as hydrogen vehicles and fuel cells are on par with the advanced economies, but we’re weak when it comes to the upstream hydrogen industry,” explained Huh Sun-kyung, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET).

“Support at the government level should be focused not on nurturing specific businesses, but on strengthening the industry ecosystem’s innovation capabilities,” she stressed.

By Cho Kye-wan, staff reporter

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