‘H2 MEET 2024’, Korea’s largest hydrogen industry exhibition, successfully concluded its three-day run from Wednesday the 25th to Friday the 27th of last month.
This year’s H2 MEET, held at KINTEX Exhibition Hall 1 in Goyang City, was attended by a record-breaking 317 companies and organizations from 24 countries around the world in three sectors: hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and transportation, and hydrogen utilization. As a result, a total of 41,000 visitors visited the exhibition site during the event, leading to the evaluation that it has taken a leap forward to become a ‘World Hydrogen Expo’.
At H2 MEET 2024, major hydrogen industry companies, ranging from domestic large corporations such as Hyundai Motor Group, Korea Zinc, Kolon Industries, HD Hyundai Infracore, NK Tech, Hylium Industries, Samjung E&C, and Dongwha Entec to small and medium-sized enterprises and startups, participated in the exhibition. In particular, many new technologies and idea products for water electrolysis systems were exhibited, attracting attention, and global companies such as Robert Bosch Korea and Emerson also set up exhibition halls to introduce the technologies and achievements they have accumulated so far.
The direction of advanced hydrogen mobility that will lead the hydrogen era was also presented. Hydrogen buses, hydrogen trucks, tractors, hydrogen drones, hydrogen electric trams, etc. were introduced throughout the exhibition hall, allowing us to experience the future of hydrogen that will unfold in industrial sites and daily life. In addition, this H2 MEET also had a special exhibition hall for hydrogen charging stations, where tube trailers, liquefied tank trucks, etc. were exhibited, allowing us to observe the actual charging process of hydrogen charging stations and help us understand it.
Local hydrogen industry models and blueprints were also presented through domestic local governments and national exhibition halls. Each local government and regional techno park, including Gangwon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi, Ulsan, and Pohang, operated its own exhibition halls to showcase regional specialized companies, products, technologies, and achievements to exhibition visitors. In addition, overseas exhibition halls, including those in Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, introduced technological advancements and visions by country and sought various opportunities for cooperation.
In addition, various side events were held to improve the quality of the event and urge development of industry insiders, such as Leaders Summit with approximately 150 domestic and foreign hydrogen industry leaders and experts as speakers; Country Day where approximately 70 speakers from 12 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, and Norway, embassies in Korea, overseas research institutes and associations, etc. participated to discuss in depth the current status and policies of the hydrogen industry in each country; H2 Innovation Award to promote the discovery of innovative hydrogen industry technologies; Global Partnership Consultation Meeting organized in cooperation with KOTRA to secure a foundation for overseas expansion of domestic hydrogen industry companies.
In this way, H2 MEET 2024, which has solidified its status as the largest hydrogen industry exhibition in Korea and announced the bright future of the hydrogen economy, was also visited and covered by major foreign media outlets boasting insights specialized in the hydrogen industry, such as Interesting Engineering (USA); Sohu (China); H2 Mobile (France); Solarquarter (India); H2 Energy News (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Accordingly, Kang Nam-hoon, the chairman of the H2 MEET Organizing Committee who oversaw the planning and operation of this year’s H2 MEET, met with these media outlets to personally inform them of the hydrogen energy transition roadmap across the country and the future of H2 MEET, a hydrogen industry specialized platform leading the roadmap.
Q. Varun Gulati, Editor-in-Chief of Solar Quarter: Compared to electric vehicles, the hydrogen mobility sector is at a standstill. I am curious about the policies of the Korean industry and government to respond to this.
A. Kang Nam-hoon, Chairman of the H2 MEET Organizing Committee: The annual production and sales of hydrogen cars are far behind those of electric cars. In order to solve the current problems of the hydrogen mobility market, which is high in price and low in accessibility, it is important to increase its scale, but it is facing difficulties from the very beginning.
Accordingly, various efforts are being made in Korea to support hydrogen car buyers by providing subsidies, supporting the construction and operation of hydrogen charging stations, and reducing the cost of hydrogen car production. This is because it is expected that the results of diversified changes and support will be market expansion and product price reduction.
In addition, the Korean government plans to supply 300,000 hydrogen vehicles and 660 hydrogen charging stations by 2030 to achieve the ‘2030 National Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target (NDC)’. The number of hydrogen vehicles that have been introduced so far is only about 30,000, which is about one-tenth of the target, but there are still six years left, so the possibility of achieving the target is positive.
In addition, since last year, the focus has shifted from the previous focus on passenger cars such as the NEXO to commercial mobility such as buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and ships, and companies are strengthening their development capabilities and expanding government support. The spread of large-scale mobility that requires much more hydrogen energy than passenger cars is not only a good opportunity for hydrogen production companies, but is also expected to be a great help in expanding hydrogen-only charging stations with limited resources.
Q. Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering Americas Editor: Are there any technical challenges holding back progress in the hydrogen sector, and are there any policies being implemented to address them?
A. Chairman Kang Nam-hoon: The biggest problem is related to green hydrogen (clean hydrogen), which can be called the ideal of the hydrogen industry. We have to bear a lot of costs in all sectors, including renewable energy, electrolysis solutions, storage, and movement required for production.
Accordingly, the Korean government is encouraging domestic power companies to build and operate power plants by giving priority to purchasing electricity produced from green hydrogen. In addition, it plans to implement policies to simultaneously increase the demand and supply of green hydrogen by proposing mandatory green hydrogen usage targets to companies and requiring them to achieve the standards.
In fact, Korean companies are actively participating in technology development and investment in the relevant field, and the number of companies expanding green hydrogen production facilities based on renewable energy in overseas energy hubs is increasing. For example, Iljin Hysolus and Korea Zinc, which participated in this exhibition, are forming a consortium in Australia to build a large-scale green hydrogen plant, and the government’s support for establishing the initial market was also behind this.
Q. Arnes Biogradlija, Editor-in-Chief of H2 Energy News: The United States has previously announced that it will build a hydrogen energy production system that produces 1 kW per dollar. How do you evaluate the possibility of this?
A. Chairman Kang Nam-hoon: Currently, in Korea, it costs about $10 to produce 1kW of green hydrogen. In other words, the target set by the United States seems unrealistic.
However, if there is continued support for the green hydrogen industry and market, I don’t think it is impossible. Currently, in Korea, the production company sells green hydrogen to the power company, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation purchases the electricity produced through this.
The electricity purchased by the corporation is immediately supplied to citizens in each region, and the rates are slightly increased accordingly. However, since green hydrogen is expensive, the corporation cannot increase the burden of electricity rates for citizens, so it is suffering from a large deficit every year. However, this problem can be improved depending on the future development trend of the green hydrogen market, which is still not mature.
Q. Michaël Torregrossa, H2 Mobile Editor-in-Chief: Overseas, there is more interest in hydrogen internal combustion engines than in hydrogen fuel cells as an energy system for mobility. What is the situation in Korea?
A. Chairman Kang Nam-hoon: In Korea, we are investing in hydrogen fuel cells, which are advantageous for commercialization and popularization, as well as in research and development of hydrogen internal combustion engines. Since the quality of products and the reasonableness of prices determine consumer choice, we are preparing for the future by promoting the development of all systems, each with its own unique strengths.
This trend can also be seen in this exhibition. Not only companies that have already distinguished themselves in the fuel cell field, but also companies like HD Hyundai Infracore that have introduced hydrogen internal combustion engines for heavy equipment energy trains have shined at the event. Although domestic production of small hydrogen internal combustion engines for passenger cars has not yet begun, it seems that product lines will expand and develop, centering on models that comply with heavy equipment standards.
Q. Jintong Zhou, Sohu reporter: Elon Musk, CEO of the American electric car company Tesla, has argued that hydrogen energy is useless. I’m curious about the position of a hydrogen industry leader on this. When do you expect hydrogen to become a major energy source?
A. Chairman Kang Nam-hoon: This is just a claim that a global electric vehicle industry leader would make. Of course, electric vehicles are currently far more competitive in price than hydrogen vehicles, and given the current atmosphere in the hydrogen mobility industry, it seems reasonable.
However, in the long term, the problems currently scattered in the nascent hydrogen mobility industry are likely to be resolved through future innovations. In particular, considering the reduction of carbon emissions demanded worldwide and the efficiency toward complete carbon neutrality, hydrogen is truly an ideal energy source. If the short-term price issue is resolved, hydrogen will also be sufficiently competitive in the mobility sector.
Countries such as Korea and Japan that already have a high dependence on imported fossil fuels, or Europe that cannot use cheap gas raw materials from Russia for geopolitical reasons, are choosing to produce hydrogen energy on their own as a means of securing energy independence and security.
In addition, Hyundai Motor Company, a leader in the domestic industry, has also demonstrated technology to produce hydrogen from waste plastic, which is expected to become a realistic and practical solution that will soon lead to the introduction of a large-scale hydrogen production system in Korea.
Furthermore, Korea’s carbon-free nuclear power generation technology has recently been exported to the Czech Republic, proving that it is the world’s best. The government is investing its budget in developing a new concept plant technology that chemically separates hydrogen to produce “nuclear hydrogen.” If commercialization value is verified, the cost of mass-producing hydrogen can be further improved by utilizing the 24 domestic nuclear power plants that have already been built.
Q. Arnes Biogradlija, Editor-in-Chief of H2 Energy News: Are there any plans to explore “white hydrogen,” a natural energy source created through natural processes?
A. Chairman Kang Nam-hoon: If we can find it, we are willing to explore the entire Korean Peninsula, but our current position is that the possibility of its existence is slim. However, since many traces of white hydrogen have been found overseas, including in the United States, we cannot say for sure that it is ‘zero (0)’. Just as the United States previously had a shale gas revolution, we hope that a white hydrogen revolution will continue somewhere else.
Q. Varun Gulati, Editor-in-Chief of Solar Quarter: What kind of impact do you foresee Korea having on the global hydrogen industry? And what role does H2 MEET play in that?
A. Chairman Kang Nam-hoon: Korea is a country that has and is pursuing firm policy goals for future mobility based on hydrogen energy, such as plans to expand hydrogen cars and charging stations. At the same time, it is providing generous subsidies to the hydrogen energy industry, including hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen mobility, and is implementing an active resource utilization strategy, thereby forming a market ahead of anywhere else in the world.
In addition, the Korean government is making the most of its efforts to expand green hydrogen infrastructure and to supply green hydrogen energy through power grid policies, and is pursuing cooperation with large corporations such as Hyundai, SK, and POSCO, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises with excellent technologies in transportation, storage, and production, as well as overseas organizations and companies such as those in Australia.
In this way, the hydrogen industry requires the concentration of public, private, and global networks to identify current issues, improve the environment, and realize the potential of hydrogen. Accordingly, H2 MEET plans to strengthen their organizational power as a representative platform for the hydrogen industry and create synergy to contribute to the global hydrogen economy.
Source: AVING
