▲H2KOREA Chairman Moon Jae-do (right) receives the Hydrogen Industry Leadership Award from Frank Wallach, CEO of FCHEA, the U.S. HFCS organizer (Photo courtesy of H2KOREA)

Korea, Guest Country Participation in Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Seminar
Discussion on hydrogen policy… Korea’s position expressed

The Hydrogen Fusion Alliance and other participating organizations in Korea discussed hydrogen policies, including the IRA Act, with the U.S. government and explored potential areas of cooperation.

The Hydrogen Convergence Alliance (H2KOREA) participated as a delegation from the Korean host country at the '2023 US Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Seminar (HFCS)' held in Long Beach, California from February 7 to 9.

Participating organizations include H2KOREA, Hyundai Motor Company, SK E&S, Korea Zinc, KOREA H2 Business Summit, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and Mico Power.

During the three-day event, Korea, as the guest country, hosted the Korea-US Hydrogen Cooperation Roundtable, creating an opportunity to launch full-scale hydrogen cooperation with the US, and emphasized the importance of cooperation to the international community through keynote speeches at the plenary session and the Korea Special Session.

In addition, Korea's policies and the current status of Korean industry were introduced, and the host country's public relations office was opened for three days of the event to promote the status of Korea's hydrogen industry and create an opportunity to build hydrogen industry cooperation with the United States.

At this event, Korea The PR center introduced Korea's hydrogen policy and the current status of the hydrogen industry, as well as the company's technological capabilities and potential for cooperation.

It also served as an important venue for holding business meetings in various fields between participating companies from Korea and the United States and discovering models for cooperation in the hydrogen industry between the two countries.

Hyundai Motor Company's hydrogen truck was also displayed along with this promotional event, attracting the attention of American officials.

At the plenary session on the second day of the event, H2KOREA Chairman Moon Jae-do gave a keynote speech on the topic of “The Importance of International Cooperation for the Expansion of the Global Hydrogen Economy,” emphasizing that “the hydrogen industry must be promoted to address the global climate crisis and energy security, and international cooperation and collaboration are of utmost importance for this.”

He then founded the Global Hydrogen Industry Association (GHIAA), which involves 20 countries around the world for international hydrogen industry cooperation, and was awarded the ‘Hydrogen Industry Leadership Award’ in recognition of his efforts for global hydrogen cooperation.

Also, at the 'Korea-US Hydrogen Cooperation Roundtable' attended by government and corporate officials from both countries on the same day, measures were discussed to maximize the benefits for Korean stakeholders in order to expand cooperation in the hydrogen industry between the two countries, as well as expand cooperation in commercial eco-friendly vehicles, cooperation in carbon capture and green hydrogen production and hydrogen infrastructure technologies, and policies for hydrogen industry trade between the two countries.

Currently, the United States is actively pursuing the commercialization of clean hydrogen through government support such as the Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the establishment of clean hydrogen production hubs based on the IRA Act, which was recently implemented to foster an eco-friendly economy and industry including hydrogen energy.

At the event, Chairman Moon Jae-do said in his congratulatory remarks, “Korea has strengths in the field of hydrogen utilization, and the United States has strengths in the field of clean hydrogen production. I am confident that if the two countries cooperate, they will greatly contribute to the development of the future hydrogen economy.”

To support this, the governments of both countries agreed that it is very important to take the lead in establishing related systems such as clean hydrogen certification, technical criteria, and standards, as well as to activate future international hydrogen trade, and to expand cooperation in technology and investment in the private sector.

The two countries also discussed hydrogen cooperation in all areas, and discussed common interests of both countries, such as ways to export major products to the U.S. and ways to develop innovative technologies and improve efficiency through cooperation between companies from both countries.

At the 'Special Session by the Guest Country' held on the third day of the event, the strengths of each participating company's main business areas and their achievements to date were explained.

On this day, the 'HFCS Guest Country Participation Achievement Award' was awarded to Korean participating companies H2KOREA, Hyundai Motor Company, SK E&S, Korea Zinc, KOREA H2 Business Summit, KOTRA, and Mico Power in recognition of their contributions to promoting the competitiveness of the Korean hydrogen industry as the guest country of HFCS and laying the foundation for cooperation with the United States.

Moon Jae-do, Chairman of H2KOREA, said, “I believe that Korea’s participation as the guest country in this event has served as an opportunity to further elevate the status of its hydrogen industry and has played a role in further advancing hydrogen cooperation with the United States.” He added, “In the future, H2KOREA will continue to provide support so that cooperation between companies from both countries can be promoted as a dedicated organization for the promotion of Korea’s hydrogen industry.”

▲ Participants pose for a commemorative photo at the Korea-US Hydrogen Business Roundtable attended by government officials and businesspeople from both Korea and the USign: center;">(Photo courtesy of H2KOREA)