The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held a meeting to discuss countermeasures to address supply disruptions caused by issues with Hyundai Steel's hydrogen production line.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it held a meeting on the supply and demand situation of hydrogen charging stations in the central region in Seoul on the 24th, chaired by Park Chan-ki, Director General for Hydrogen Economy Policy.

It has been reported that two of the three hydrogen production lines at Hyundai Steel's Dangjin Steelworks, which currently supplies 20-30% of the hydrogen for transportation in the central region including the metropolitan area, have experienced problems.

As a result, hydrogen charging station inventory is starting to run out, and some hydrogen charging stations in the metropolitan area, Chungcheong, and Gangwon are operating with shortened business hours.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has set up a meeting to review the hydrogen supply and demand situation and seek response measures together with hydrogen producers, suppliers, charging station operators, and local governments.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is conducting a comprehensive inspection of the operational status and supply situation of hydrogen charging stations in the central region, and has requested cooperation from hydrogen suppliers to ensure that surplus hydrogen from other hydrogen production facilities in normal operation can be supplied to charging stations experiencing unstable hydrogen supply.

Additionally, we plan to establish an emergency communication network among the industry, related organizations, and local governments attending today's meeting to continuously monitor the supply and demand situation until supply and demand normalizes.

Park Chan-ki, Director of Hydrogen Economy Policy, said, “For hydrogen car users, the most important thing is an environment where they can conveniently charge hydrogen anytime, anywhere.”“The government will do its best to ensure a smooth supply of hydrogen to hydrogen charging stations by working closely with relevant industries and organizations,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Steel produces hydrogen using the PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) method.

This is a process technology that removes impurities by adsorbing them under high pressure to purify hydrogen from a mixed gas containing hydrogen.

Hyundai Steel produces high-purity hydrogen by refining COG (Coke Oven Gas), a by-product gas produced at steel mills.

It has been reported that half of the hydrogen produced at Hyundai Steel's Dangjin Steelworks, which recently experienced problems, is supplied for automobile charging and semiconductor precision cleaning processes, and the remaining amount is used by the steelworks to prevent oxidation of products.