Hyundai Heavy Industries to join green hydrogen project in East Sea

By Nam Kwang-sik

SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- Global No. 1 shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said Thursday that it will take part in a project to build a plant in the East Sea to produce green hydrogen.

Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a deal with nine entities, including the Korea National Oil Corp., a state-run company, to build a 100 megawatt plant for green hydrogen.

Under the deal, the participants will push for the establishment of the plant in a floating offshore wind farm in the East Sea by 2025 and operate a 1.2 gigawatt green hydrogen plant, Hyundai Heavy Industries said.

Hyundai Heavy Industries will develop a plant to produce hydrogen from sea water using electricity power generated in the floating offshore wind farm, the company said.

Hydrogen is an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, as vehicles and ships propelled by the resource only create water in the process of generating power.

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced by splitting water by electrolysis, using renewable energy sources such as wind power without emitting carbon dioxide.

In March, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group said that it will nurture hydrogen-related business as its new growth engine amid tightened environmental regulations and rising demand for eco-friendly fuels.

Under the plan, the shipbuilding group will establish a new unit that handles the production of hydrogen and the use of it on land and sea by 2030.

Offshore projects to produce and transport hydrogen will be sought after by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), the group's subholding company, which has three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co.

According to the government's hydrogen economy plan released in January 2019, the country aims to produce 6.2 million hydrogen-fueled cars by 2040 and build up to 1,200 hydrogen stations across the country.

ksnam@yna.co.kr
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