Hyosung to Invest 1 Trillion Won for Green Hydrogen Production in Jeollanam-do

Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon and Jeollanam-do Gov. Kim Young-rok pose after they signed an MOU on the fostering of the green hydrogen industry at the Jeollanam-do Provincial Government Office in Muan, Jeollanam-do, on Jan. 24. (Photo: Jeollanam-do)

Hyosung Group will invest 1 trillion won to build key green hydrogen infrastructure facilities in Jeollanam-do.

The business group, now building the world’s biggest carbon fiber plant in Jeollabuk-do by investing 1 trillion won, has decided to make a massive investment in Jeollanam-do this time.

Hyosung Group plans to nurture Jeolla provinces into a center of the group’s future industries.

Hyosung said on Jan. 24 the business group struck an MOU on the fostering of the green hydrogen industry with Jeollanam-do. Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon and Jeollanam-do Gov. Kim Young-rok participated in the signing ceremony.

Under the deal, Hyosung will build facilities capable of producing green hydrogen of 200,000 tons annually by using electricity being produced by an off-shore wind power complex off Shinan, Jeollanam-do, Green hydrogen production facilities will be dedicated by 2031, and the project will cost 1 trillion won.

Green hydrogen, being produced from renewable energies like wind power and photovoltaic power, do not emit greenhouse gas emissions. It is believed to the cleanest energy source.

Hyosung plans to build a 10MW-class water electrolysis facility in Shinan this year. Two liquefied hydrogen plants with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons, capable of stockpiling and utilizing green hydrogen will be constructed.

Additional liquefied hydrogen plants will be built in consideration of green hydrogen production and site conditions.

Liquefied hydrogen charging stations will be installed at nice locations, and sea transportation of liquid hydrogen will be implemented to establish a vertical integration of the green hydrogen industry.

Green hydrogen, produced from Jeollanam-do, will be supplied to areas with industrial complexes in the Seoul metropolitan area, Ulsan, Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Busan. A way of exporting green hydrogen is under study.

A Hyosung Group official said only green hydrogen production facility, except the off-shore wind power business, will have an effect of creating 110,000 jobs.

Hyosung plans to launch a wind power assembling plant in the Jeollanam-do area by 2023 in accordance with the provincial government’s off-shore wind power generation plan. The plant will produce wind power generators by assembling blades.

To this end, Hyosung Heavy Industries is preparing for establishing a joint-venture with the world’s No. 3 wind power turbine maker. The company is seeking to obtain KS certification of a 10MW-class off-shore wind power turbine.

Hyosung will participate in the power grid infrastructure business. The value of the market is estimated at 19 trillion won.

Hyosung is expected to supply super high-voltage transformers, circuit breakers, and other transmission and distribution electrical systems and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems, capable of increasing the efficiency of transmitting renewable energies.

In 2019, Hyosung Chairman Cho announced a plan to build a carbon fiber plant capable of producing 24,000 tons annually in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, the world’s largest single plant, by investing 1 trillion won by 2028.

Hyosung became the first Korean company to have developed carbon fiber. The company has produced carbon fiber from Jeonju since 2013.

The carbon fiber plant in Jeonju was expanded twice, and it is expected to secure a capacity of producing 6,500 tons of carbon fiber annually by July.