Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) announced on Dec. 29 that it plans to establish a hydrogen platform that encompasses hydrogen production bases, hydrogen charging stations, and overseas hydrogen production facilities. As a first step toward realizing the plan, it broke ground for the construction of a hydrogen production base in Gwangju on Dec. 2.
The production base in Gwangju is scheduled to be completed in March 2023. When completed, it will produce more than four tons of hydrogen a day by utilizing natural gas supplied through pipes. This volume can be supplied to 10,000 units of hydrogen cars.
Starting with the hydrogen production base in Gwangju, Kogas plans to build hydrogen utilities in provincial regions, including Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province. The company will supply 830,000 tons of hydrogen annually on its own in 2030 and import 200,000 tons of green hydrogen from Southeast Asia and Australia in 2030. The amount of hydrogen to be supplied by Kogas is expected to reach 1.03 million tons in 2030.
In addition, Kogas plans to build the base in Pyeongtaek as Korea’s first carbon-neutral hydrogen mega-station platform. The plan is to send natural gas to the hydrogen extraction base in Pyeongtaek to produce gaseous hydrogen and liquefy it, using LNG cold heat of minus 160 degrees Celsius, before supplying it to hydrogen vehicles.
Kogas is also planning to build hydrogen charging stations. The company will set up a total of 152 charging stations by 2030. In Pyeongtaek and Tongyeong, 90 liquefied hydrogen charging stations will be built in line with the establishment of hydrogen infrastructure for mobility. Among them, it will directly manage Gimhae charging station, which began operation in July, and Daegu Innovation City Charging Station, which is scheduled to open next year. It will also create 60 hydrogen charging stations through collaboration with private companies such as Hynet.
In addition, Kogas will use clean hydrogen to create Jeju Island as the world’s first hydrogen-centered green island. The company is planning to produce green hydrogen by utilizing Jeju Island’s abundant wind power and supply it to hydrogen power plants and hydrogen charging stations through pipes.
