The Ministry of Trade, Sector and Energy said that it will invest 171.8 billion won in this year’s national research and development (R&D) project for the hydrogen industry, an increase of 62 percent over last year’s investment to grow the hydrogen ecosystem. A total of 44.2 billion won will be invested in new R&D initiatives, which is the highest amount ever.
After the announcement of the 2022 hydrogen R&D project plan was made at the end of January, the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Institute conducted an evaluation in March and chose a total of 22 new task execution firms.
The objective of hydrogen research and development in 2022 is to develop and secure key technologies in all aspects of the hydrogen economy, including hydrogen generation, storage, usage, and safety.
To begin, we concentrated on establishing the foundation for clean hydrogen generation by conducting large-scale demonstration projects of 10MW or more to ensure cost-effective water electrolysis plant operation technology.
In the past, small-scale water electrolysis demonstrations such as 2 MW (Naju) and 3 MW (Jeju Won) have been promoted in phases, beginning with the development and demonstration of 260 kW water electrolysis technology in the Sangmyung wind power complex in Jeju in 2017.
The goal of this demonstration project is to collect data on optimal operating conditions for large-scale water electrolysis devices, green hydrogen production data, and economic feasibility data. It intends to enhance domestic water electrolysis technology by conducting a type-by-type comparison of domestic and overseas water electrolysis facilities.
If this work is finished successfully, it will be able to create around 1,000 tons of pure hydrogen per year by 2026. It is also intended to be employed in a variety of industries, including the production of roughly 300 hydrogen cleaning cars and hydrogen turbine co-firing power generating on Jeju Island. As ‘Team Korea,’ it is planned to act as a stepping stone for early commercialization of water electrolysis and entry into the international water electrolysis market.
Liquid hydrogen storage technology, which can reduce the amount of gaseous hydrogen to roughly 1/800, and technological development for cost reduction and high performance of hydrogen equipment parts such as hydrogen tanks and compressors are being supported in the field of hydrogen transport and storage.
The present fossil fuel-based mobility is converted to hydrogen mobility, and technology development for ammonia-injected fuel cell source technology development and fuel cell reliability enhancement is encouraged in the field of hydrogen use.
In the realm of hydrogen safety, the performance of essential parts and facilities is checked, and technological development is undertaken to assess safety in order to establish Korean-style liquid hydrogen safety standards.
“Under the recent high oil price, the transition to a hydrogen economy that can address both high oil prices and carbon neutrality is an irreversible trend we will enhance support for,” Yang Byung-nae, head of hydrogen economy policy at the Ministry of Industry, said.
