Incheon Metropolitan City is implementing various policies to expand the hydrogen economy.
In 2020, the Incheon Metropolitan Government, which enacted the “Ordinance on Fostering and Supporting the Hydrogen Industry”, is working to build an ecosystem and foster talent through the Hydrogen Industry Committee in cooperation with businesses, educational institutions and universities.
Through the creation of a hydrogen production cluster, Incheon Metropolitan Government plans to establish a hydrogen production base and foster the hydrogen industry to transform the aging industrial structure into a hydrogen-oriented one and lead the hydrogen economy in the metropolitan area.
Incheon City fostering hydrogen industry by utilizing regional infrastructure
As hydrogen is attracting attention as the next generation of energy, many local governments are making efforts to introduce the hydrogen industry to the local community. Among them, Incheon City is a local government that is planning and pushing to foster the hydrogen industry by utilizing its hydrogen production infrastructure. In particular, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun stressed that “the transition to hydrogen energy is an essential task to overcome the climate crisis” at every hydrogen-related event, adding that “Incheon will become the leading city in the Korean hydrogen economy as the best city to create large-scale demand while having a hydrogen production base.”
As Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun said, the city of Incheon has enacted the “Incheon Metropolitan City Ordinance on Fostering and Supporting the Hydrogen Industry” in January 2020, launched and operated the “Hydrogen Industry Committee”, a policy advisory body, and has been implementing policies to foster the hydrogen industry.
In particular, the Incheon Metropolitan Government has been discussing ways to foster the hydrogen industry with companies and institutions located in the city. Incheon Metropolitan City, where manufacturing and high-tech industries are concentrated together, believes that using such infrastructure, it is possible to become independent of the entire hydrogen cycle that supplies and utilizes hydrogen production.
Typical examples are SK E&S and Hyundai Motor. In March last year, the city of Incheon, Seo-gu, Incheon, SK E&S and Hyundai Motor signed a “business agreement on mutual cooperation to build a hydrogen industry base.” The companies in question are those that aim to foster the hydrogen car industry, such as fostering hydrogen cars, supplying hydrogen cars and producing liquefied hydrogen, and promised to cooperate for the development of the hydrogen industry in Incheon through this agreement.
The Incheon Metropolitan Government will take the lead in establishing a bio and byproduct hydrogen production cluster, while Hyundai Motor and SK E&S will participate in the establishment of a hydrogen production cluster in Incheon, and work together to achieve their respective goals, including fostering and distributing the hydrogen car industry and establishing a liquefied hydrogen infrastructure.
SK E&S plans to invest KRW 500 billion to refine the mix of hydrogen from SK Incheon Petrochemical into liquefied hydrogen to produce 30,000 tons a year and distribute them to the Seoul metropolitan area. In addition, Hyundai Mobis will build a KRW 1 trillion hydrogen fuel cell research and production facility in Cheongna. In addition, the Incheon city government plans to convert bio gas generated at the metropolitan landfill, which will end its use in 2025, into hydrogen to produce 2,200 tons annually from 2025, and establish a hydrogen industry integration complex in the Geomdan 2 General Industrial Complex to establish a hydrogen industry support system.
Hydrogen City to be completed as hydrogen production cluster
Incheon City, which has made such efforts to build a hydrogen city, plans to continue its move this year. In particular, Incheon’s biggest project this year is the “hydrogen production cluster creation project.” The Incheon Metropolitan Government held the fourth hydrogen industry committee in January and shared a plan to promote the hydrogen industry in 2022. On the same day, the Incheon Metropolitan City’s Hydrogen Industry Committee said it will actively respond to the hydrogen production cluster development project so that it can pass the preliminary feasibility study and proceed smoothly.
The project to create a hydrogen production cluster in Incheon was dropped from the deliberation of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in April last year, but was selected as a company subject to a preliminary feasibility study in August last year by supplementing the project contents. Preliminary feasibility studies will begin in April this year.
The project to create a hydrogen production cluster, which will cost a total of 273.3 billion won, will be carried out with the aim of establishing a foundation for hydrogen production and fostering the hydrogen industry. The hydrogen production base construction project is a project to build a production and supply base for high-purity clean hydrogen.
If the project provides a system to support the demonstration and advancement of related technologies, it will produce 1,400 tons of distributed clean water annually, along with 30,000 tons of liquefied petroleum from SK Incheon Petrochemical. The hydrogen industry promotion project aims to build a hydrogen industry support center that supports the sustainable growth of hydrogen companies, such as the localization of key components and equipment for hydrogen production, the creation of a testbed for hydrogen production facilities for economic and safety performance evaluation, and the training of hydrogen professionals.
The Incheon Metropolitan Government expects the hydrogen production cluster project to generate more than 1.6047 trillion won in social benefits, including 479.7 billion won in production inducement effect, 582.4 billion won in fine dust reduction benefits, and 427.7 billion won in greenhouse gas reduction benefits. It also predicts that Incheon’s aging industrial structure will be fostered as a hydrogen-oriented front and rear industry, and contribute to regional economic development and job creation by creating a hydrogen ecosystem and strengthening regional industrial competitiveness.
Nurturing human resources for hydrogen economy
Incheon City, which aims to lead the hydrogen economy, is also paying attention to hydrogen talent development. On March 8, Incheon Metropolitan City signed a “business agreement for fostering hydrogen talents” with the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education, Inha University and Incheon National University.
Through this agreement, the four organizations plan to cooperate with each other to foster local hydrogen talent. Major contents include fostering creative hydrogen talents through exchanges of hydrogen policy and technology information, developing textbooks and talent development programs in the hydrogen ecosystem, finding and planning tasks to foster hydrogen talent, government proposal activities, hydrogen company experience activities and building a linkage system for hiring human resources, and supporting education and public relations to improve awareness of hydrogen energy.
To that end, the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education plans to test-run the “60-hour project-type career experience academy” for 60 students (4 classes) in the first and second grades of general high schools in the second half of the year based on Incheon High School and Gyesan High School.
In December last year, the Incheon Metropolitan Government and the Office of Education began developing specialized textbooks to foster hydrogen talent, including the characteristics of hydrogen, hydrogen death, the introduction and exploration of the hydrogen industry’s value chain, and the collection and analysis of data. Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun said, “This agreement is a very valuable first step in terms of nurturing creative hydrogen talents who will lead the hydrogen economy in the future. Incheon City will continue to cooperate with the education office and local universities to foster hydrogen talents.”
