The completion of the Samcheok hydrogen production base, which will be responsible for supplying hydrogen within Gangwon Province, is expected to reduce the distance required for hydrogen supply from regions outside the province, thereby contributing to the stability of hydrogen supply for refueling stations in the Gangwon region in the future.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Lee Chang-yang, hereinafter the Ministry) completed construction of the Samcheok Hydrogen Production Base, located at the site of the hydrogen charging complex station in Gyodong, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do, and held a completion ceremony on the 30th.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has been promoting the construction of small-scale hydrogen production bases in seven regions nationwide that supply hydrogen fuel using city gas near demand centers in order to resolve the regional imbalance in the supply of hydrogen for vehicles produced in petrochemical complexes such as Daesan, Ulsan, and Yeosu.

The Samcheok hydrogen production base is the third following Changwon (April 2021) and Pyeongtaek (July 2022), and the first production base in the Gangwon region to have shipping facilities.

Since Gangwon Province does not have byproduct hydrogen production facilities, the eight hydrogen refueling stations in the province have been receiving hydrogen from Dangjin or Daesan in South Chungcheong Province, but the distance is up to 200 km, resulting in a heavy burden of transportation costs.

With the completion of the Samcheok hydrogen production base, it is now possible to produce 1 ton of hydrogen per day and supply it to hydrogen refueling stations in Gangwon-do through shipping facilities.

The Samcheok production base originally planned trial runs and equipment inspections with the goal of commencing full-scale production in mid-October following the completion ceremony, butTo ensure a stable supply of hydrogen to hydrogen refueling stations in Gangwon-do during the Seok holiday, some facilities were put into operation prior to the holiday, contributing to the smooth operation of the stations.

We plan to fully operate the hydrogen production facility starting in mid-October and supply it to five hydrogen refueling stations in the Gangwon region daily.

To implement the hydrogen economy, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to ensure that all seven natural gas-based small-scale hydrogen production bases currently underway are fully operational by early next year, and for future hydrogen production bases, it plans to support only the construction of clean hydrogen production bases that produce green hydrogen (water electrolysis) or blue hydrogen (carbon capture type) with low carbon emissions to achieve carbon neutrality.

Park Il-jun, the Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony, stated in his congratulatory remarks, “With the completion of the Samcheok production base, we are now able to ensure a smoother supply of hydrogen within the region and expand the foundation for the hydrogen economy, such as increasing the adoption of hydrogen vehicles.” He added, “Going forward, the government plans to proceed with the transition to a hydrogen economy without setbacks by advancing infrastructure related to hydrogen storage and transportation.”