SK E&S-US plug power joint investment… The largest foreign investment in the history of hydrogen
By 2030, all city buses in Incheon will be converted to hydrogen buses.
[정연주 제작] illustration
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Bo-ram Yoon and Eun-kyung Kim = A joint venture established by SK E&S and US hydrogen energy company Plug Power will build a plant that produces core hydrogen business facilities in Cheongna, Incheon, and start operation in 2024.
On the 30th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy signed an MOU with Incheon City, SK E&S, and Plug Power, a US hydrogen energy company, at Incheon City Hall to attract investment from global first-class hydrogen companies.
SK E&S and Plug Power, the contracting organization, decided to jointly invest through a joint venture established in January to build a fuel cell and water electrolysis facility production plant (Giga-factory) in the Cheongna High-tech Industrial Complex.
Starting with mass production and domestic sales of the product from 2024, the company plans to expand its entry into neighboring Asian markets in the future.
The exact amount of the investment was not disclosed for business reasons, but the Ministry of Industry said that if the investment is made as planned, it will attract the largest foreign investment ever in the hydrogen field.
Currently, the maximum amount of investment based on a single case is $34.5 million (about 41.8 billion won, as reported) by French Plastics Omnia.
In particular, the Ministry of Industry explained that this investment is expected to contribute to the creation of new jobs and the localization of technology in the domestic hydrogen field as an exemplary case of business cooperation between representative companies in Korea and the United States leading the hydrogen industry.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has been actively supporting the resolution of difficulties by consulting with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and LH Corporation to select a site for the production plant and supply electricity smoothly from the beginning of discussions with Incheon City to attract this investment.
In the future, the government plans to expand national R&D for the development and introduction of advanced technologies in the hydrogen field, and strengthen the necessary policy support to support cooperation with overseas advanced companies.
[연합뉴스 자료사진]
On this day, the Ministry of Industry, Environment, Incheon City, SK E&S, Plug Power, Hyundai Motor Company[005380] A ‘business agreement for the creation of a leading city for hydrogen public transportation’ was also signed between the two countries.
This agreement is to support Incheon City’s hydrogen public transportation revitalization plan.
The city of Incheon has decided to first replace 700 of the 2,000 city buses currently in operation with hydrogen buses by 2024, and then convert all city buses to hydrogen buses by 2030.
In addition, it is planning to build 13 liquid hydrogen charging stations exclusively for city buses by 2025.
Currently, Incheon is the only local government that has announced a plan to convert all city buses to hydrogen buses.
In the future, the Ministry of Environment plans to convert various commercial vehicles such as large (11t) trucks, wide-area buses, and vacuum cleaners to hydrogen vehicles in addition to city buses after consultation with Incheon City to reduce fine dust and greenhouse gases.
In addition, in cooperation with the contracting organization, the charging facilities for hydrogen buses will also be significantly expanded, centered on private and public bus depots.
SK E&S and Plug Power will build and operate hydrogen charging stations.
Considering that the liquid hydrogen facility in Incheon will be operated from 2023 (approximately 30,000 tons of production per day), the Ministry of Environment plans to strengthen support for this year by establishing five liquid hydrogen charging stations on a trial basis through a public offering project.
In a congratulatory speech, 2nd Vice Minister of Industry Park Ki-young emphasized, “Hydrogen is a key means of realizing carbon neutrality, an energy security resource that can be produced with domestic capital and technology, and a key field that will grow into a new energy industry in the future.”
Vice Minister Park continued, “It is one of the representative energy policy tasks that the next government must continue to pursue.” “I expect Incheon to leap into the center of the domestic hydrogen economy that encompasses all fields of hydrogen production, distribution and utilization through this cooperation.” said.
bryoon@yna.co.kr
bookmania@yna.co.kr
Report on Kakao Talk okjebo
<저작권자(c) 연합뉴스,
Unauthorized reproduction-redistribution prohibited>
2022/03/30 15:30 Send
