Motie: Energy Vice Minister attends GHIAA launching ceremony

Trade, Industry and Energy 2nd Vice Minister Park Il-Joon attended the 2022 Global Hydrogen Industrial Association Alliance (GHIAA) Forum held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul on May 25 for countries to share their hydrogen industry status and trends.

The forum was held both online and in-person for 18 countries to convene for the official launching of GHIAA, where the Vice Minister introduced Korea’s hydrogen economy policy directions in his congratulatory remarks and underscored the importance of global private sector hydrogen collaboration. H2KOREA has been at the forefront of the movement to strengthen private sector hydrogen cooperation worldwide.

Korea is to head GHIAA as first chair country and the Office of the Secretary General will be installed in H2KOREA to optimize the Korea-led hydrogen alliance. Regular meetings, establishment of hydrogen network data hub, and development and demonstration of joint policies, regulations and technologies are on the to-do list for this alliance in serving as a bridge between governments and private entities.

During his message, Vice Minister Park revealed plans on the following, a balanced development of the hydrogen cycle (production, distribution, utilization).

Production-wise, energy sources for clean hydrogen are to be diversified across solar, wind, nuclear and natural gas power, which entails the construction of large-scale hydrogen production facilities both in and outside of Korea.

Distribution-wise, fully equipped hydrogen carrier vessels for handover and storage are to be prepared, as well as global qualification standards for clean hydrogen.

Utilization-wise, the supply of hydrogen cars (mainly commercial) and multi-fueling stations needs to be expanded, while technological development and demonstration of hydrogen and ammonia power generation also require implementation.

All in all, the above measures are ultimately for building a hydrogen industry ecosystem on a global scale.

After the launching ceremony, the U.S., UK, Germany and other major hydrogen alliance member states shared their respective hydrogen industry progress.

The U.S. laid out plans for a USD 9.5 billion hydrogen investment under a bipartisan bill. The UK doubled its low carbon hydrogen production target from 5GW to 10GW and started a GBP 240 million hydrogen fund. Germany announced plans to open the ECU 0.9 billion “H2 Global” fund and to create an international hydrogen exchange market mechanism.

Vice Minister Park stated that “hydrogen is game-changer fuel” and “increasing energy independence is critical in this transitional era towards carbon neutrality,” expressing hopes of “stronger cooperation to counter climate change and energy market crisis.”