"Using 'Hydrogen Electricity' in 2025... Ulsan City Attracts Investment for 'Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant'"

Lotte Chemical and SK Gas Sign Business Agreement on 14th... Leap to Hydrogen Leading City

300 Billion KRW Investment, Construction Starts Next Year, 120,000 Households' Annual Use, 500,000 MWh Production Capacity

Ulsan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The Ulsan hydrogen fuel cell power plant construction project has set sail. With Ulsan City receiving a green light for significant investment attraction, it has moved closer to the goal of completion in 2025.

On the 14th at 2 p.m., Ulsan City announced that it would sign an MOU with Lotte Chemical Co., Ltd. (Basic Materials Business Representative Hwang Jin-gu) and SK Gas Co., Ltd. (CEO Yoon Byung-seok) at the situation room on the 7th floor of the city hall main building.

According to the memorandum of understanding, Lotte Chemical and SK Gas will promote a "new hydrogen fuel cell power plant construction project" as a business to establish a hydrogen value chain that can help Ulsan leap forward as a hydrogen city.

Lotte Chemical and SK Gas have pledged to prioritize hiring Ulsan citizens when recruiting personnel necessary for the new business investment, striving to create good jobs and revitalize the local economy.

Additionally, Ulsan City plans to actively support all necessary administrative procedures to ensure the smooth progress of the project.

Lotte Chemical and SK Gas have been promoting the establishment of a joint venture with Air Liquide Korea to advance by-product hydrogen-based power generation and hydrogen transportation businesses, and received approval for establishment from the Fair Trade Commission last August.

The joint venture will have shares contributed by Lotte Chemical, SK Gas, and Air Liquide Korea at 45%, 45%, and 10%, respectively, and will be jointly managed by Lotte Chemical and SK Gas.

The hydrogen fuel cell power plant to be constructed by the joint venture will have an annual production capacity of approximately 500,000 MWh. This capacity is enough to supply electricity for one year to 120,000 households based on a four-person household.

Furthermore, hydrogen charging stations will be established at major bases nationwide, and the business scope will be expanded to clean hydrogen projects.

Hwang Jin-gu, Basic Materials Business Representative and Head of the Hydrogen Energy Business Group at Lotte Chemical, said, "Lotte Chemical is the largest domestic producer of by-product hydrogen, and the construction of this hydrogen fuel cell power plant is significant as it lays an important foundation for forming an industrial ecosystem." He added, "Lotte Chemical will expand its business to include the production, distribution, and utilization of clean hydrogen and ammonia by leveraging the optimized infrastructure in the Ulsan region."

Yoon Byung-seok, CEO of SK Gas, said, "This by-product hydrogen-based fuel cell power plant is the starting point of the hydrogen business we want to establish in Ulsan." He continued, "We plan to actively promote distributed power generation projects using clean hydrogen in Ulsan, the optimal location for hydrogen business, and will expand the business scope in the future through investments in clean ammonia import infrastructure and ammonia cracking facilities."

Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan, evaluated, "The construction of the hydrogen fuel cell power plant in Ulsan presents a new solution to provide an eco-friendly and stable power supply source to the Ulsan region, one of the largest domestic power demand areas including the automobile, shipbuilding, and petrochemical industries."

Mayor Kim said, "I hope the joint venture created through the cooperation of the two companies will take root in Ulsan, grow into a sound company, and contribute to creating an eco-friendly energy ecosystem so that Ulsan can take another step forward as a leading hydrogen city."

The hydrogen fuel cell power plant is scheduled to begin construction in 2023 on a 12,000㎡ (3,700 pyeong) site within the Lotte Chemical Ulsan plant in the Mipo Industrial Complex, with a project cost of approximately 300 billion KRW, and is expected to be completed in early 2025.

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