[Vision for Hydrogen: Part 3] Hydrogen Infrastructure

The hydrogen reformer production plant of Hyundai Rotem

Hyundai Rotem built a hydrogen reformer manufacturing plant at the Uiwang Research Center last year. A hydrogen reformer is a device that extracts hydrogen from natural gas and is an essential device for smooth supply of hydrogen in the early stages of entering the hydrogen society. The plant built by Hyundai Rotem has the ability to produce 20 hydrogen reformers per year. The amount of hydrogen produced by 20 hydrogen reformers is about 4,700 tons per year, which is a scale that can fill up 850,000 hydrogen-electric vehicles (based on Nexo).

As interest in hydrogen society grows around the world, developed countries pay attention not only to the hydrogen production facilities but also to the hydrogen transportation infrastructure. The hydrogen transport technology is not only essential to safely transport the hydrogen produced, but it is also very important in that it can lower the price of hydrogen supply by optimizing the supply network. In the case of Korea, while leading the global industry in the field of hydrogen utilization such as hydrogen-electric vehicles and fuel cell power generation, it is still in the development stage in the areas of production, transportation, and supply.

Accordingly, Hyundai Glovis has been building a systematic hydrogen supply network from the first half of this year in cooperation with Hynet (Hydrogen Energy Network Co., Ltd.), Hyundai Steel, Hyundai Motors, Korea Gas Corporation, and SPG. This is a business that supplies hydrogen produced at Hyundai Steelworks in Dangjin to hydrogen charging stations located in the metropolitan and Chungcheong areas, and Hyundai Glovis plans to introduce a tube trailer, a special transport vehicle for hydrogen. The vehicle can carry up to 340 kg of hydrogen at a time.

Currently, domestic hydrogen transportation does not have an integrated system, so information at each stage such as hydrogen production, transportation, and consumption is not linked, so hydrogen supply is not smooth, which incurs unnecessary transportation costs. Hyundai Glovis plans to accelerate the creation of a hydrogen ecosystem by using its own ‘Hydrogen Supply Chain Management Optimization Platform’ to improve the efficiency of the domestic hydrogen transportation market.

‘H Station’ built by Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor, which is the first in the world to mass-produce hydrogen-electric vehicles, and is leading the development and distribution of various hydrogen mobility such as hydrogen buses and hydrogen trucks, is actively conducting activities to build hydrogen charging stations in city centers and highways to build a hydrogen ecosystem as well as popularize hydrogen-electric vehicles. ‘H Station’, a hydrogen charging station built by Hyundai Motor Company, opened in the Anseong service area in April 2019, and started at 9 locations nationwide, including Yeoju, Haman, Hanam, Yeouido, Gangdong, Busan, Incheon, and Wanju (charging stations specially built for hydrogen commercial vehicle). Hyundai Motor Company is also supporting the supply of hydrogen charging stations by investing in Hynet, which is taking the lead in building hydrogen charging stations, and aims to build 100 hydrogen charging stations by 2022 in cooperation with the government.

As such, Hyundai Motor Group is making efforts to establish a stable hydrogen infrastructure from hydrogen production to transportation and supply, as well as hydrogen mobility. This is because building a hydrogen infrastructure is a prerequisite for entering a hydrogen society. This is why countries around the world, including Korea, as well as the United States, Europe, Japan, and China, who want to take the lead in hydrogen society, are accelerating the construction of hydrogen infrastructure. Let’s hope for a hydrogen society, a truly eco-friendly world without carbon emissions.

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