Korea-US Joint Venture 'BloomSK Fuel Cell' Fuel Cell Manufacturing Plant Opens... "Accelerating Localization"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The fuel cell manufacturing plant of 'BloomSK Fuel Cell,' a joint venture between the U.S. renewable energy company Bloom Energy and SK Engineering & Construction, has been completed in South Korea.

It is expected that healthy competition with existing companies will promote industrial development such as technology advancement and cost reduction of fuel cells.

Kang Kyung-sung, Director of the Industrial Policy Office at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, attended the opening ceremony of the BloomSK Fuel Cell manufacturing plant held on the 20th in Gumi, Gyeongbuk. Government officials, local governments, and industry representatives gathered to celebrate the opening of the domestic fuel cell manufacturing plant through foreign investment attraction.

Director Kang announced that the government plans to support the sound development of the fuel cell industry ecosystem, an eco-friendly distributed power source, by promoting the introduction of the Hydrogen Power Supply Obligation (HPS) system in 2022.

He urged, "The fuel cell industry should also make creative and proactive efforts to expand the use of eco-friendly hydrogen and spread hydrogen economy infrastructure to realize the Green New Deal."

At the opening ceremony, BloomSK Fuel Cell presented a vision to increase the localization rate of Bloom Energy fuel cells, which had been imported as finished products, to over 50%, and to use the Gumi plant as an export base to third countries.

They also announced plans to actively support overseas expansion, including supplying Bloom Energy headquarters with domestic small and medium-sized enterprises in the fuel cell materials and components sector.

Meanwhile, SK Engineering & Construction, SK Advanced, and Bloom Energy, who attended the opening ceremony, signed a business agreement to promote a pilot project for a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power plant using by-product hydrogen produced in Ulsan.

Using by-product hydrogen instead of extracted hydrogen as fuel for SOFC is expected to enhance the eco-friendliness of fuel cells and create a demand base to expand the use of green hydrogen in the future.

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