130 Additional Hydrogen Buses Operated in Incheon... 18 Million Users Expected

Incheon City plans to operate an additional 130 hydrogen buses starting this year, with an estimated annual total of approximately 18 million Incheon citizens expected to use hydrogen buses. This is part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Hydrogen Fuel Cell System Purchase Support Pilot Project.'

On the 18th, the Ministry held the delivery ceremony for the first hydrogen bus supported by the pilot project and the completion ceremony of the Incheon hydrogen production base simultaneously in Incheon. At the event, the first hydrogen bus under the pilot project was delivered.

Since announcing a growth strategy for creating a clean hydrogen ecosystem and fostering the world's leading hydrogen industry at the 5th Hydrogen Economy Committee last November, the government has been actively promoting policies to expand the hydrogen economy. As part of this, the Ministry established a pilot project for hydrogen bus distribution linked with hydrogen production and charging infrastructure. Through this year's public contest, six local governments (Seoul, Incheon, Busan, Sejong, Jeonbuk, Gyeongnam) were selected to participate in the pilot project. In Incheon, a total of 153 hydrogen buses will be operated, including the 23 buses already in service.

The Incheon hydrogen production base was established by the Ministry as a small-scale hydrogen production facility using city gas near demand areas to address regional concentration of hydrogen supply for vehicles. It is the fourth such base completed after Changwon, Pyeongtaek, and Samcheok.

An official from the Ministry stated, “Incheon has previously lacked hydrogen production facilities and relied on hydrogen supplied from other regions, but with the completion of this distributed hydrogen production base, it is expected to enable an annual production of 430 tons of hydrogen, contributing to stable supply within the region.”

Park Il-jun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry, emphasized, “We will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to sequentially expand hydrogen bus distribution to other local governments. We will actively support the advancement of infrastructure related to hydrogen production, storage, and transportation, and strive further to spread the hydrogen ecosystem through improvements in hydrogen-related laws and systems.”

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