‘Blue Valley’ Miracle in the Making... Setting Sail Toward Pohang Hydrogen Industry

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cluster Passes Final Feasibility Study

Mayor Lee Gang-deok Sets Future Energy New Industry Goals

With the hydrogen fuel cell cluster construction project finally passing the preliminary feasibility study, Pohang City has set sail toward becoming a hydrogen industry city.

It is analyzed that Pohang’s outstanding infrastructure and proactive hydrogen industry policies have led to this achievement.

On the 23rd, Pohang City announced that the preliminary feasibility study for the ‘Gyeongbuk Pohang Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cluster Construction Project,’ which had been prepared over a long period, was finally approved at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance’s ‘2023 3rd Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee’ held in Seoul on the 20th, laying the groundwork for full-scale project implementation.

This achievement came three years after being selected as a target project for the preliminary feasibility study and five years after the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy first planned the public project.

After the final approval of the preliminary feasibility study, Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang (right), is holding a press conference at City Hall.

The eco-friendly future energy industry that produces electricity using hydrogen is one of Pohang’s three major future projects, along with secondary batteries and bio industries, promoted since Mayor Lee Kang-deok took office.

The background for this project passing the preliminary feasibility study includes the internationally accredited testing institution ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell Certification Center’ and Pohang’s solid science and technology research and talent development infrastructure.

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Certification Center, located within Pohang Technopark, is equipped with core fuel cell component testing and certification equipment. It opened in 2019 and was recognized as an internationally accredited testing institution by KOLAS (Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) in 2021, improving companies’ access to necessary testing and certification.

Following KOLAS accreditation, the center has additionally introduced testing equipment and is currently undergoing evaluation to be designated as a KS certification institution. Once KS certification is completed, it will become the only certification center in Korea capable of testing and certifying all fields of hydrogen fuel cells.

The center houses top-tier R&D institutions such as Pohang TP, the executing agency of the hydrogen cluster construction project, POSCO Holdings Future Technology Research Institute, Pohang Industrial Science Research Institute, and Pohang Metal Materials Industry Promotion Institute. POSTECH also leads hydrogen workforce development by operating a hydrogen industry convergence talent training program in collaboration with Yeungnam University, supported by Gyeongbuk Province and Pohang TP.

The favorable conditions for hydrogen companies to operate also contributed to Pohang City’s success in passing the preliminary feasibility study.

Pohang has industrial complexes and ports where companies importing overseas clean hydrogen and fuel cell component raw materials and exporting finished products can settle. Fuel cell specialist company FCI Co., Ltd. signed an MOU with Pohang City early on and plans to build a fuel cell and water electrolysis device production plant on a site near the cluster.

Pohang City’s strong and continuous commitment to project promotion also served as a driving force behind passing the preliminary feasibility study.

Starting with the establishment of the Daegyeong region fuel cell testbed in 2014, Pohang City has invested 10 billion KRW since 2021 to expand the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Certification Center.

Additionally, last year, the city enacted the ‘Ordinance on the Promotion and Support of the Hydrogen Industry in Pohang’ to establish a legal basis for systematic promotion and support. In August last year, Pohang was selected as a target site for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s hydrogen city creation project, laying the foundation for infrastructure that utilizes hydrogen energy in daily life such as housing and transportation.

Furthermore, to focus administrative power on advancing as an ‘eco-friendly energy-based industrial city,’ Pohang City established the ‘Hydrogen Energy Industry Division’ through an organizational restructuring in January this year to take charge of hydrogen and various energy sector projects.

To proactively respond to government policies for achieving the 2050 carbon neutrality goal and hydrogen economy transition, Pohang City has built an all-around support and cooperation system including establishing an industry-academia-research win-win network, culminating in the preliminary feasibility study approval for a total project cost of 191.8 billion KRW.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang said, “I am very pleased that an opportunity has been created to contribute to the development of the national innovative industry through ‘battery national defense,’” and added, “We will continue to promote cooperation with the central government, local R&D institutions, and industries to ensure the successful implementation of the hydrogen fuel cell cluster construction project.”

Aerial view of the Pohang hydrogen fuel cell power generation cluster.

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