Gas Gong 'Energy Safety Innovation Team', 20-Year Veteran Takes the Lead

Securing Future Growth Engines... Expanding from Natural Gas to Hydrogen and Fuel Cells

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) plans to secure future growth momentum by operating the 'Energy Safety Innovation Promotion Team.' Leveraging 35 years of accumulated know-how in natural gas safety management, the company is determined to establish an innovative safety management system across all key energy sectors, including hydrogen and fuel cells, not just natural gas business.

On the 28th, KOGAS announced the operation of the Innovation Promotion Team, consisting of a total of 10 members, including President Chae Hee-bong (Team Leader), safety experts with an average of over 20 years of experience, and external specialists.

Based on diagnostics of all areas such as organization, disaster response, and partner companies, the team focuses on ▲realizing efficient field-centered safety management ▲creating a safe workplace through collaboration with partner companies ▲developing safety management manuals for new growth sectors ▲developing safety coexistence models and concretizing social value.

A KOGAS official emphasized, "This energy safety innovation signifies a paradigm shift that goes beyond the current safety management limited to the natural gas business to encompass overall energy safety." For example, with the passage of the 'Hydrogen Economy Promotion and Hydrogen Safety Management Act (Hydrogen Act),' public concerns about hydrogen explosions have been alleviated, and interest in safety management measures covering the entire hydrogen lifecycle?'production-transport-storage-utilization'?has increased. The plan is to expand management areas from natural gas to hydrogen and fuel cells, establish manuals that codify safety management principles beyond accident prevention at the site, and manage so that KOGAS and partner company workers concretely implement these in the workplace.

KOGAS will also present a comprehensive master plan including a 'continuous disaster response system establishment,' which concretizes experiences gained through proactive COVID-19 response and quarantine measures, and a 'smart safety management system' reflecting the rapid growth and changes of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

On the 20th of last month, KOGAS announced an 'Emergency Economic Revitalization Plan' investing 210 billion KRW to support small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners whose sales and profits declined due to the COVID-19 crisis. Through this, they quickly responded by additionally contributing to a win-win fund to raise 63.8 billion KRW and by early ordering contracts worth 79.2 billion KRW in the second quarter, corresponding to 20% of the construction, service, and purchase plans for SMEs originally scheduled for the second half of the year.

From August to October last year, KOGAS held a 'Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Startup Competition' for three months, laying the foundation for the spread and expansion of smart factories. They have been early adopters of AI-based new technologies on-site, such as providing a smart factory testbed and conducting demonstration projects by integrating information and communication technology (ICT) into natural gas production processes in collaboration with Pohang University of Science and Technology.

President Chae said, "Innovation starts above all with adhering to the basics, and the basics begin with prioritizing safety." He added, "We will enhance KOGAS's safety management level and build a robust energy safety foundation that can create public safety and benefits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.