Excavators, Trains, and Ships Powered by Hydrogen to Appear... Hydrogen Refueling Stations to Reach 458 by 2030

Announcement of Regulatory Innovation Measures at Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting
Regulatory Improvements in Water Electrolysis, Charging Stations, Liquefied Hydrogen, and Power Generation

Hydrogen fuel cells are expected to be utilized in various fields beyond automobiles, including construction machinery, forklifts, trains, and ships. It will also become possible to install hydrogen charging stations through private contracts in public facilities. The manufacturing industry for water electrolysis equipment will be added to advanced industries.

On the morning of the 2nd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the "Field-Centered Regulatory Innovation Plan for Fostering World-Class Hydrogen Power" at an emergency economic ministers' meeting combined with a price-related ministers' meeting. The regulatory innovation plan reflects voices from the field across the entire hydrogen ecosystem, including hydrogen vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells, water electrolysis (technology that generates hydrogen by electrolyzing water), gaseous hydrogen charging stations, liquefied hydrogen, and hydrogen and ammonia power generation, identifying tasks to be addressed. A total of 38 key regulatory improvements will be pursued.

In the water electrolysis sector, the standards for testing and evaluating materials, components, and equipment will be rationalized, and the licensing and registration system for water electrolysis manufacturing facilities will be improved. The water electrolysis market is currently being demonstrated worldwide with about 320 facilities and a scale of 200 megawatts (MW). Domestic companies are actively attempting to enter the market, but projects have been delayed due to unreasonable standards.

Accordingly, the government plans to improve existing inspection and performance standards related to water electrolysis and establish standards for the commercialization of new business areas such as modular water electrolysis. Inspection standards for on-site installed large-capacity water electrolysis manufacturing facilities will be established, and the addition of water electrolysis equipment manufacturing to advanced industries will be promoted.

The standards for installing hydrogen charging stations will also be rationalized. Currently, if protective facilities are installed after the completion of a hydrogen vehicle charging station, the station is considered to have violated the mandatory separation distance and may face suspension of operation. However, going forward, if protective walls or additional safety devices are installed, it will be recognized that a safe distance from protective facilities has been secured.

On the 8th of last month (local time), visitors at the SK Group exhibition hall at the CES 2024 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in the United States experienced the 'Train Adventure,' which allows them to view the hydrogen ecosystem through video. 2024.1.9 [Image source=Yonhap News]

A special regulation will also be established allowing public institutions or local public enterprises to install eco-friendly vehicle charging facilities through private contracts. This will make it easier to secure locations for hydrogen charging stations and improve profitability. Through such regulatory relaxation, the government has set a goal to increase domestic hydrogen charging stations from 192 in 2023 to 458 by 2030.

With the full-scale operation of liquefied hydrogen plants starting this year, safety standards for liquefied hydrogen equipment and liquefied hydrogen charging stations will also be revised. The government has allowed manufacturers of safety valves to conduct self-verification and has relaxed inspection standards for charging station containers. Standards will be established to allow testing of insulation performance using liquefied nitrogen instead of liquefied hydrogen.

Additionally, liquefied hydrogen charging stations will be included in the special standards for hybrid charging stations, allowing them to be constructed alongside existing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) charging stations.

As the clean hydrogen power generation bidding market is introduced for the first time in the first half of this year and clean hydrogen-ammonia co-firing power generation is scheduled to start in 2027, regulations on hydrogen and ammonia power generation will also be improved.

The government plans to rationalize the installation standards for discharge dikes of fully enclosed ammonia storage tanks by amending related laws such as the High-Pressure Gas Safety Control Act and the Industrial Safety and Health Act. In addition, safety of mobile hydrogen generators will be verified before deciding on improvements.

Various hydrogen mobility applications using hydrogen fuel cells, such as excavators, forklifts, agricultural machinery, trains, electric trams, and aircraft, are undergoing demonstrations through regulatory sandboxes, but current safety standards are tailored to hydrogen vehicles, causing difficulties in commercialization.

The country's first hydrogen charging station dedicated to construction machinery and industrial machinery has been established at the Comprehensive Testing Center of the Construction Machinery Parts Research Institute in Gunsan, Jeonbuk. The photo shows the charging of construction machinery at the hydrogen charging station. 2023.9.6 [Image source=Yonhap News]

Therefore, the government plans to improve the system so that hydrogen fuel cells can be widely expanded beyond hydrogen vehicles by raising the emission gas limit temperature for high-output fuel cells, permitting the use of high-pressure containers (above 700 bar) for mobility other than vehicles, and rationalizing inspection standards for ship fuel cells. Additionally, it plans to secure additional research and development (R&D) budgets to demonstrate developed hydrogen trains.

Hydrogen Mobility Regulatory Sandbox Demonstration Status. Source=Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The government, together with the Korea Gas Safety Corporation and others, will regularly check the implementation and progress status and continuously identify tasks centered on sector-specific working groups within the public-private consultative body.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Deok-geun stated, "To accelerate the clean hydrogen economy and foster the new hydrogen industry, it is most important to promptly establish safety-based standards in areas where no standards exist. We will continuously identify and improve difficulties experienced by companies in the field."

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