South Korea launches green H2 pilot project in Jeju
South Korea's industry and trade ministry (Motie) announced on 29 September the start-up of what it describes as the country's first large-scale hydrogen demonstration project in Jeju city.
The 12.5MW project, costing 62bn South Korean won ($43.3mn), will run until March 2026 and will be operated by state-controlled utility Korea Southern Power. The pilot project aims to demonstrate hydrogen production with all four existing hydrolysis systems using a high renewable energy ratio — alkaline electrolysis cell, polymer electrolyte membrane, solid oxide electrolysis cell and anion exchange membrane.
The project aims to produce 1,176 t/yr of hydrogen at a 60pc utilisation rate. This is in line with a government target to supply 100pc of hydrogen demand in 2050, or 27.9mn t, with clean hydrogen and expand its clean hydrogen self-sufficiency rate to over 60pc. The produced hydrogen will be supplied to 200 cleaning vehicles and 300 buses in Jeju.
Installed electrolysis capacity has to rise to 850GW by 2030 and 3,600GW by 2050 to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, according to the IEA.
"Jeju will be the first to achieve the government's renewable energy target of 21.5pc in 2030 and build a global green hydrogen hub based on this," said Jeju governor Oh Young-hun. "We will take the lead in the national hydrogen economy by building hydrogen ports and importing and converting hydrogen."
"The government will actively make efforts to overhaul and deregulate related systems in order to induce and support private investment in the hydrogen industry, including the introduction of the clean hydrogen power generation system in 2023 and the implementation of the clean hydrogen certification system in 2024," said Motie's second vice-minister Park Il-joon.
More capacity comes on line
South Korea has also launched the country's third hydrogen production base in Samcheok city's Gangwon province on 30 September, Motie said the same day.
The Samcheok plant is Gangwon's first such plant with shipping facilities and has a production capacity of 365 t/yr. Hydrogen produced will be supplied to the province's hydrogen refuelling stations through a shipping facility. The Samcheok production base comes after the Pyeongtaek base that launched in July and the Changwon plant that has been operating since the end of last year.
Gangwon does not have any by-product hydrogen production facilities, so Chungcheongnam province's Dangjin and Daesan cities have been supplying the province's eight hydrogen charging stations. But supplies have to travel up to 200km, resulting in "burdensome transportation costs", Motie said.
The Samcheok facility will be fully operational from mid-October onwards, with supplies sent to five hydrogen charging stations in the province each day.
Motie also plans to start operating all seven natural gas-based small-scale hydrogen production bases early next year. Future hydrogen production facilities will only include those that produce green hydrogen through hydrolysis, or blue hydrogen using carbon capture to achieve carbon neutrality.
"In the future the government plans to push ahead with the transition to the hydrogen economy without a hitch by upgrading infrastructure related to hydrogen storage and transportation," said Park.
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Japan seeks $11bn green budget funding
Japan seeks $11bn green budget funding
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Brazil expects R2 trillion in energy transition
Brazil expects R2 trillion in energy transition
Sao Paulo, 26 August (Argus) — Brazil launched its national policy for energy transition, expecting to attract R2 trillion ($364.2bn) in investments in the area over the next 10 years, according to energy minister Alexandre Silveira. The policy establishes guidelines for the country's energy transition, Silveira said, adding that Brazil will be a leader of the green economy. "[The policy] involves wind, solar, hydro, biomass, biodiesel, ethanol, green diesel, carbon capture and storage, sustainable aviation fuel, green hydrogen," he said. "It is an opportunity to boost local production." The two-pronged policy includes the national energy transition plan, which will work alongside other government initiatives, such as the growth acceleration program , the climate plan, new industry Brazil and the pact for ecological transformation. It will also count with the support of the International Energy Agency, Brazil's development bank Bndes, energy research firm Epe and the Getulio Vargas Foundation research institute. The national energy transition plan will focus on getting support from industry participants in the transportation, electrical, mineral and oil and natural gas sectors, and creating legal and regulatory frameworks, to "combat energy poverty and inequalities and create an attractive environment for investments." The second prong is the national energy transition forum, in which public and private sector participants will get a chance to debate and contribute to the policy. Brazil's national energy policy council CNPE approved the plan in a meeting on Monday with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and ministers such as Silveira, environmental minister Marina Silva and finance minister Fernando Haddad. "We are looking to the future," Silveira said. "The energy transition must be fair, inclusive and balanced." By Lucas Parolin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Greece set to miss EU goal for green H2 use in industry
Greece set to miss EU goal for green H2 use in industry
Hamburg, 23 August (Argus) — Greece has further reduced its 2030 goal for installed electrolysis capacity, which suggests the country will miss an EU target for renewable hydrogen use in industry. A new national energy and climate plan (NECP) put forward for consultation by the interior ministry sets a goal of 187MW installed electrolysis capacity by 2030. This follows several revisions over the past two years. An initial 2021-30 NECP from January 2023 set a target of 1.2GW . This was raised to 1.7GW by August that year, but slashed to just 300MW in November. That sharp cut followed an assessment that previous targets had been too high, considering Greece's ability to produce and consume renewable hydrogen by the end of the decade. Previous iterations of the NECP had considered injections of renewable hydrogen into the natural gas grid, which have since been deemed too expensive. 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Greece renewable H2 projections 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 Injections into gas grid in TWh/yr 1.0 3.7 6.5 12.1 20.2 Of which: Heavy transport 0.0 0.0 0.6 1.1 1.9 Synthetic fuels 1.0 2.8 5.0 7.8 15.0 Ammonia production 0.0 0.7 0.8 3.0 3.2 Injections into gas grid 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Electrolysis capacity in MW 187 680 1,232 2,347 5,188 - government Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazilian politicians, judges to advance green agenda
Brazilian politicians, judges to advance green agenda
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