Hyundai Motor to Create a 'Mini Hydrogen City' in Paju City

Hyundai Motor Company is launching a resource-circulating hydrogen project to create a mini hydrogen city in Paju City in collaboration with Paju City and the High-Tech Research Institute.

On the 15th, Hyundai Motor signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Paju City and the High-Tech Research Institute at Paju City Hall in Gyeonggi Province to promote the Gyeonggi-do mini hydrogen city creation project. Key officials attending the event included Ken Ramirez, Head of Hyundai Motor's Global Commercial & Hydrogen Business Division, Kim Kyung-il, Mayor of Paju City, and Kim Jin-gyun, Director of the High-Tech Research Institute.

In March, Hyundai Motor participated as a consortium with Paju City and the High-Tech Research Institute (hereinafter Hyundai Motor Consortium) in the '2024 Mini Hydrogen City Creation Project' competition hosted by Gyeonggi Province and was selected as the final project operator. The Gyeonggi-do mini hydrogen city creation project supports the establishment of eco-friendly hydrogen energy self-sufficient cities within the province to promote the hydrogen industry and achieve carbon neutrality. Following Yongin City last year, Paju City was selected as the second city this year.

Under this collaboration, Hyundai Motor will build a clean hydrogen production facility by 2026 on a site next to the Paju Environmental Circulation Center. This facility will produce more than 500 kg of clean hydrogen daily from biogas extracted from organic waste.

Paju City is advancing the modernization of the Environmental Circulation Center to process 160 tons of organic waste daily (90 tons of livestock manure and 70 tons of food waste) and install an 'Integrated Biogas Facility' that produces biogas, the raw material for clean hydrogen.

The High-Tech Research Institute, which has experience operating hydrogen production bases using biogas, will cooperate in the successful construction and operation of Paju City's resource-circulating hydrogen production facility through integrated process detailed design and operational data analysis.

The Hyundai Motor Consortium plans to supply the hydrogen produced in connection with the integrated biogas facility at reasonable prices to nearby hydrogen charging stations and industrial complexes, and also utilize it for additional hydrogen demand from public-purpose hydrogen vehicles (buses, garbage trucks, etc.) in Paju City in the future.

Hyundai Motor Company, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Bus Elec City FCEV
Photo by Hyundai Motor Company

Through this cooperation, Hyundai Motor expects to establish a regional hub-type hydrogen supply base linked with local government environmental infrastructure facilities, facilitating smooth hydrogen supply to the northern Gyeonggi region, which has been procuring hydrogen from places like Seosan and Dangjin in Chungnam Province due to the lack of hydrogen production facilities. In particular, the goal is to contribute to the activation of the hydrogen ecosystem and the response to carbon neutrality transition by working with Paju City, which is implementing policies to promote the hydrogen business, and the High-Tech Research Institute, which has demonstration experience in commercializing clean hydrogen using biogas.

A Hyundai Motor official said, "Going forward, we plan to contribute to hydrogen production and waste treatment and secure global hydrogen ecosystem leadership by promoting the Waste-to-Hydrogen (W2H) project that converts organic waste such as food waste, sewage sludge, and livestock manure, which require a transition to hydrogen energy, not only domestically but also overseas."

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