Busan hosts Korea’s biggest-ever climate tech fair

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Busan hosts Korea’s biggest-ever climate tech fair

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, second from right, looks at a mock-up of a hydrogen turbine currently under development by Doosan Enerbility displayed at the company's booth at the World Climate Industry Expo held in Busan, Thursday. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, second from right, looks at a mock-up of a hydrogen turbine currently under development by Doosan Enerbility displayed at the company's booth at the World Climate Industry Expo held in Busan, Thursday. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

 
BUSAN — From nuclear reactors to electric cars, energy tech took center stage in Busan as the port city hosts Korea’s biggest-ever climate tech fair amid the accelerating shift away from fossil fuels. 

Hosted by the government, Busan city office and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the World Climate Industry Expo 2023 kicked off at Bexco in Busan, Thursday.

The three-day event integrated several different climate-related conferences and conventions into one mega-event with an aim to promote Busan’s bid for the 2030 World Expo.

“Busan’s transformation into a low-carbon, green city will bring the global community on board with its vision of ‘transforming our world,’” said Han Duck-soo during his remarks during the opening ceremony Thursday.

“Transforming our world, Navigating toward a better future,” is Busan’s promotional slogan for its World Expo bid.

Chey Tae-won, KCCI chairman, stressed in his remarks that “we need disruptive innovation with technologies” to further accelerate the energy transition.

Visitors flocked to the exhibition hall where big-name companies, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK, Hanwha, LG, Posco, and Doosan, showcased their latest technologies and plans to survive and thrive in the era of energy transition.

Under the theme of "Everday Sustainability," Samsung Electronics introduced its technologies aimed at cutting the energy consumption of home appliances and the company's carbon reduction efforts, while Samsung SDI presented its all-solid-state battery vision and the PRiMX battery brand.

Hanwha Q Cells, the solar unit of Hanwha Solutions, put forward its latest solar technologies, including a mock-up and a prototype of its perovskite tandem cells.

Tandem cells are multi-junction solar cells made by stacking a perovskite layer on top of silicon. They have a higher power conversion efficiency of 44 percent compared to the previous silicon-based cells.

Nuclear power and hydrogen were also among the major themes.

At Doosan’s booth, Doosan Enerbitliy displayed a hydrogen turbine model for the first time, which is currently under development, as well as miniature mock-ups of a nuclear reactor and a steam generator.

Kore Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) displayed the APR1400 reactor technologies and its vision for the hydrogen business. 

Bloom Energy, a San Jose, California-based provider of hydrogen fuel cells, also set up a booth inside KHNP’s exhibition zone.

As Bloom Energy's water electrolysis technology requires a high temperature to produce hydrogen, it would be able to create synergy with nuclear power companies by utilizing intensive heat generated by nuclear reactors, according to the company.

Bloom Energy is working closely with SK as well. SK ecoplant recently completed a 2.7-megawatt fuel cell project in Connecticut, while Bloom Energy supplied the solid oxide fuel cells.

Hyundai Motor presented a fuel cell truck and Kia's all-electric EV9 sport utility vehicle. 


BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin,hanee@joongang.co.kr]
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