Hyosung brings green hydrogen ambitions to S. Jeolla

Industry

Published: 24 Jan. 2022, 18:11 Updated: 25 Jan. 2022, 11:10

Hyosung brings green hydrogen ambitions to S. Jeolla

Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, right, and Kim Yung-rok, South Jeolla Governor, pose at the provincial government office on Monday after signing a memorandum of understanding on collaborating on the green hydrogen business. [HYOSUNG GROUP]

Hyosung Group is investing 1 trillion won ($836 million) in South Jeolla, joining the region's ambition to become Korea's hub for the green hydrogen business.

It is the textile-and-fiber company's first major hydrogen initiative since it joined the Korea H2 Business Summit last year, a council formed by 15 Korean conglomerates to support the country's transition to hydrogen economy. Other members include Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group.

The company said it will use the 1 trillion won to build factories and storage facilities to handle 200,000 tons of green hydrogen annually.

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity generated from renewable resources. It is described as the ultimate energy source in combating climate change.

Hyosung Group said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with South Jeolla Monday to foster the green energy business in the province.

The investment will start this year but a more detailed timeline hasn’t been decided upon, according to the company.

“Hyosung will contribute to making South Jeolla a green energy industrial mecca," said Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon Monday.

Under the partnership, Hyosung will build 10 megawatt electrolysis facilities in the region in order to produce up to 200,000 tons of green hydrogen annually.

The green hydrogen manufactured in South Jeolla is meant to be supplied to industrial complexes in Seoul, Ulsan, Changwon and Busan, Hyosung says.

It expects some surplus to be exported to Japan.

In order to store and utilize the hydrogen, Hyosung will build two liquefied hydrogen plants, each able to store some 10,000 tons of liquefied hydrogen.

It will also establish nine hydrogen charging stations at locations in South Jeolla.

“Hyosung is planning on vertically integrating the ecosystem of the green hydrogen business," the company said in a release Monday.

Hyosung's investment is expected to dovetail with South Jeolla's ambition for a wind power plant complex in the region. Utilizing its geographical advantages, South Jeolla is planning on building an 8.2 gigawatt wind power plant in its Sinan County by 2030. Sinan County, in South Jeolla's southwest, consists of some 830 small islands.

It is part of the province's plan to build wind power plants with a capacity of 25 gigawatts in total, the equivalent of 25 nuclear power plants.

Hyosung's investments in the Jeolla regions started in 2019 when Chairman Cho pledged to invest 1 trillion won in North Jeolla by 2028 to build a carbon fiber factory with yearly production capacity of 24,000 tons.

Carbon fiber is considered an environmentally significant product as it can be used instead of steel.

“They are not only suitable to make hydrogen tanks, but also considered the next go-to material for carmakers to replace steel when manufacturing vehicles,” said a Hyosung spokeswoman.

“Using light material will ultimately raise a car’s efficiency.”

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]