The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy signed a cooperation agreement and launched a task force for hydrogen imports with 30 companies and organizations in the hydrogen industry. The purpose of the task force is to set up a hydrogen supply network before a substantial increase in domestic hydrogen demand.

The ministry and the agreement partners are going to conduct six-month feasibility studies on overseas candidates capable of clean hydrogen supply. Then, they will test clean hydrogen production and supply in the second phase of their project and attract private-sector investment for the production and supply in the third. The second and third phases are scheduled to continue for four to five years and three to four years, respectively.

According to the South Korean government, the domestic hydrogen demand for transport purposes is estimated to reach 4,000 tons this year, 370,000 tons in 2030 and one million tons in 2040. The importance of hydrogen supply is likely to continue to increase as industries such as steel and chemical increase their hydrogen utilization.

Given South Korea’s green hydrogen production capacity, technical limitations, greenhouse gas emission issues, and so on, it is said that 10 percent to 50 percent of the domestic demand has to be met based on imports from 2030 onwards.