Chung Hae-won, head of Hyundai Oilbank’s safety production division, and President Hong Ji-yoo of Synbio Chemical, attend a ground-breaking ceremony to build a liquid carbon dioxide plant at the Daejuk Industrial Complex in Chungcheongnam-do on June 14. (Photo: Hyundai Oilbank)

Hyundai Oilbank is building infrastructure to retrieve and utilize all carbon dioxide produced in the hydrogen production process, moving the company closer to entering the blue hydrogen business.

Hyundai Oilbank held a groundbreaking ceremony to build a liquid carbon dioxide plant at the Daejuk Industrial Complex in Chungcheongnam-do in cooperation with Synbio Chemical, the nation’s largest liquid carbon dioxide maker, on June 14.

Among those on hand on the event were Chung Hae-won, head of Hyundai Oilbank’s safety production division, and President Hong Ji-yoo of Synbio Chemical.

Synbio Chemical will invest 80 billion won and dedicate the plant, which is capable of producing carbon dioxide for semiconductor manufacturing and dry ice by the first half of next year.

Hyundai Oilbank will supply 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually at its Daesan plant as a raw material to Synbio Chemical.

Hyundai Oilbank plans to raise the annual supply of carbon dioxide from 90,000 tons to a maximum of 360,000 tons in 2022 by ramping up cooperation with the current consumer company Sundo Group.

Blue hydrogen is created from fossil fuels, where carbon emissions are captured and stored.

Blue hydrogen is the most feasible, considered eco-friendly and economical compared to grey hydrogen, which is directly emitted into the atmosphere, and green hydrogen, which is made from renewable energy sources in an expensive production process.

Refineries are outfitted with hydrogen production facilities using naphtha, natural gas and LPG.

Hyundai Oilbank has a hydrogen production facility capable of producing 200,000 tons of hydrogen annually. In the process, about 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide is produced as by-products.

The latest project will involve Hyundai Oilbank’s full retrieving all carbon dioxide being created from the process of producing hydrogen.

Hyundai Oilbank will be the first Korean refinery to change the conventional hydrogen production process into a blue hydrogen production center, bringing benefits of reducing carbon emissions and creating additional profits.

Hyundai Oilbank is stepping on the gas to expand blue hydrogen sales infrastructure. The company plans to sell 100,000 tons of blue hydrogen to hydrogen charging stations and fuel cell power generators annually.

In the first phase, Hyundai Oilbank plans to build a high-purity refinery facility capable of reforming blue hydrogen into a vehicle fuel at its Daesan plant.

The facility will have a capacity to reform 3,000kg of blue hydrogen daily, an equivalent to charging 600 Nexo units.

The reformed hydrogen will be sold to hydrogen charging stations and its own charging network, established as special purpose companies.

Hyundai Oilbank, which has participated in the establishment of the special purpose company Kohygen, plans to secure three more hydrogen charging stations so that an eight-station own charging network can be operated. 

Hyundai Oilbank President Kang Dal-ho said, “We plan to enter the fuel cell power generation business with a capacity of more than 20MW from 2023 by establishing a joint venture with power companies.”

Hyundai Oilbank will devote itself to being a blue hydrogen business leader by establishing production and sales infrastructure at the earliest possible date.

Hyundai Oilbak Enters Hydrogen Power Generation Market

Hyundai Oilbank, the refining unit of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, is entering the hydrogen power generation market.

Hyundai Oilbank sealed an MOU on cooperation in the development of joint-venture renewable energy projects with KOEN.

Among those on hand at the event were Song Myung-joo, chief of Hyundai Oilbank’s management support division, and Bae Young-jin, head of KOEN’s new business division.

The two companies are considering jointly implementing renewable energy power generation projects using hydrogen fuel cells.

Hyundai Oilbank will produce and sell hydrogen, while KOEN will provide expertise on the operation of fuel cell power plants the power company has so far accumulated so that a joint-venture power generation operation can produce electricity.

The move may be construed to secure an upper hand in the hydrogen fuel cell power generation market, to be expanded soon.

Figures, released by the government showed that the nation’s hydrogen fuel cell power generation capacity is predicted to surge 8GW by the end of 2040, about 12 times more than the current 650MW, and the value of the market is forecast to jump to about 7 trillion won.