Incheon’s Cheongna district will see the construction of a hydrogen manufacturing plant that will be operational by 2024.
It is part of the government’s ambition to make Incheon into Korea’s hydrogen economy hub, which includes converting all of the city’s buses to hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The Incheon Metropolitan City, SK E&S, and Plug Power of Latham, New York, a provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions, signed an agreement on Wednesday to create a “Gigafactory” within the Incheon industrial complex. The “Gigafactory” will produce electrolyzers, green hydrogen, and fuel cells.
The products will be distributed both domestically and internationally.
While the ministry did not provide details on the investment, it stressed that if it proceeds as planned, it will be the largest foreign investment in Korea’s hydrogen economy.
In October, SK E&S and Plug Power decided to form a joint venture to build the Gigafactory.
SK E&S controls 51% of the venture, while Plug Power owns the remaining 49%.
SK E&S and SK Inc. paid $1.5 billion in January to acquire 9.9 percent of Plug Power, a Nasdaq-listed company.
Incheon city announced intentions to convert public buses to hydrogen electricity during Wednesday’s event.
To begin, 700 of the approximately 2,000 public buses will be converted to hydrogen by 2024. By 2030, all public buses will run on hydrogen.
By 2025, the city plans to construct 13 liquefied hydrogen charging stations exclusively for buses.
