Gwangyang City Holds "2025 Gwangyang Hydrogen Industry Promotion Forum"

Discussion on RE100 Response, Liquefied Hydrogen, and Future Hydrogen Technologies

Gwangyang City in South Jeolla Province announced that it held the "2025 Hydrogen Industry Promotion Forum" on the 17th at the City Hall Citizen Hall.

The forum was organized to explore ways to leverage Gwangyang City’s industrial, port, and logistics infrastructure as new growth engines for the hydrogen industry, in the context of national tasks such as responding to the climate crisis and achieving carbon neutrality.

Gwangyang City held the "2025 Hydrogen Industry Promotion Forum" on the 17th at the City Hall Citizen Hall. Photo by Gwangyang City

The event was attended by over 100 participants, including the mayor of Gwangyang, the chairperson of the Gwangyang City Council, experts from industry, academia, research, and government, representatives from energy companies, and public officials. Attendees shared the latest technological trends and policy directions across the entire hydrogen industry value chain, from production to storage, transportation, and utilization. They also reached a consensus on the necessity of establishing a hydrogen city in Gwangyang and on the related policy and technological challenges.

In the keynote presentation, Professor Hwang Jihyun of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH) gave a talk on "Proposal for a Green Hydrogen Energy Island Model Based on a Liquefied Hydrogen Import Terminal." Professor Hwang emphasized the need for green hydrogen in response to increasing electricity demand and presented strategies for building a liquefied hydrogen import terminal.

Subsequent thematic presentations covered a wide range of key issues across the entire hydrogen industry cycle, including the current status of the Gwangyang Hydrogen City project, hydrogen production and carbon capture technology for RE100 industrial complexes, the localization of liquid hydrogen plant development, thermal and cryogenic energy storage systems for low-carbon and low-cost energy transition, methanol production technology as next-generation marine fuel, and the status of Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen business.

After the presentations, a comprehensive discussion was held on the topic of "Strategies for Promoting the Hydrogen Industry in Gwangyang City." Participants exchanged diverse opinions on building a hydrogen supply chain based on Gwangyang’s port, industrial complexes, and logistics infrastructure; the need to link technology demonstration with commercialization; and the importance of aligning with government policies.

A city official stated, "Although there are still challenges to be addressed in terms of commercialization and economic feasibility, the hydrogen industry is a core sector that will lead the era of carbon neutrality. Based on the collaborative foundation connecting Gwangyang Port, POSCO, and the neighboring cities of Yeosu and Suncheon, Gwangyang City will foster the hydrogen industry as a new growth engine."

Professor Hwang Jihyun commented, "Gwangyang City has a rare strategic position in Korea as a hydrogen logistics hub capable of distributing both imported hydrogen and domestically produced green hydrogen to inland areas. I hope the discussions at this forum will contribute to the development of Gwangyang’s hydrogen industry and the region as a whole."

Gwangyang City plans to use this forum as an opportunity to share information on hydrogen-related technologies and policies, gather expert opinions, and actively reflect them in future hydrogen industry promotion policies. In addition, the city will continue discussions for the development of the hydrogen industry through collaboration with relevant institutions and companies.

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