Under a memorandum of understanding, Hyosung and Linde agreed to jointly build a liquid hydrogen plant will have a capacity of 13,000 million tons per year. To that end, the two chemical companies aim to set up a joint venture before the end of this year.
Ulsan was chosen as the plant’s location as it is home to some of South Korea’s largest refineries and petrochemical industry as well as the carmaker Hyundai Motor, which develops hydrogen powered-vehicles.
Construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2021 and is due completed in the following year.
The 13,000 mt/year liquid hydrogen plant, which can power 100,000 hydrogen vehicles on a single charge, will be the world's single biggest such plant, Hyosung said in a statement. Initially, the liquid hydrogen will be used mainly as a fuel for ships, vehicles and forklifts but it can be amended for use in the power sector as well.
Korea aspires to become hydrogen economy
Hydrogen is a zero carbon fuel source, deemed vital to change the carbon-centered economies.
“The investment will play a big role in facilitating South Korea's hydrogen ecosystem and the government's push for hydrogen economy," Hyosung Group chairman Hyun-joon said. The government’s so-called ‘Roadmap for a hydrogen economy’ envisages that South Korea will produce 81,000 hydrogen-powered cars by 2022, which will increase to 6.2 million units by 2040.
The government’s strategy also aims for Korean manufacturers to produce 15 GW of hydrogen fuel cell capacity for electricity production in 2040, of which 8 GW will be for domestic use. This 8 GW capacity equals about 7% of South Korea's currently installed power gen capacity of 116 GW.