The company is accelerating the enhancement of its core competencies to lead the global clean energy market and to achieve carbon neutrality. By developing technology for clean energy sources and securing independent design capabilities, Hyundai Engineering & Construction is laying the groundwork for entering the global hydrogen market.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction has established its leading position in the hydrogen business by securing independent design capabilities for hydrogen production plants.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced on the 7th (Tuesday) that it has completed the basic design of the water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base in Buan, Jeollabuk-do. The water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base is a plant that can produce, store, and transport hydrogen by decomposing water with electricity. Hyundai Engineering & Construction has been operating in Jeollabuk-do, Buan-gun, Jeonbuk Techno Park, and Korea Hydro & Power Corporation through a national project supervised by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy since last year. Together with nuclear power, Techcross Water & Energy, and Techcross Environmental Services, we are carrying out the base construction project within the Buan Renewable Energy Theme Park in Jeollabuk-do.
This is Korea’s first water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base, the largest commercially available in the country, and consists of a water electrolysis facility that produces more than 1 ton of hydrogen per day with a capacity of 2.5 MW and a shipping facility that compresses it to 250 bar and exports it. The hydrogen produced will be supplied to nearby hydrogen charging stations and used for hydrogen mobility.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which is responsible for overall design (basic/detailed design), equipment purchase, and construction in this project, has focused on establishing the optimal design plan by deploying professional manpower specialized in hydrogen plants. To produce 99.9999% high-purity hydrogen for hydrogen mobility, a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) method was proposed and adopted, and a redundancy system was applied to prevent operation from stopping even in an emergency. Specifications were derived.
*Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM): A method of producing hydrogen through a polymer electrolyte membrane. Since output can be adjusted freely, hydrogen can be produced in a timely manner and is excellent at responding to the volatility of renewable energy. The size of the core components is small, allowing for miniaturization, and the purity of hydrogen is high because it uses pure water as a raw material without using an electrolyte.
Currently, the licensing process, including detailed design and safety management plan, is in progress, and the detailed design will be completed by the end of this year, the plant will be built in 2024, and clean hydrogen will be produced in earnest from May 2025.
Under the belief that hydrogen, a key energy source in the carbon-neutral era, will lead the future energy market, Hyundai Engineering & Construction is laying the foundation for entering the global hydrogen market by continuously investing in developing source technology as well as securing its own design capabilities.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which successfully completed the ‘Boryeong Clean Hydrogen Project FEED Design’ in October last year, also completed the basic design of the Buan water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base, proving its excellent capabilities in the field of hydrogen plant basic design. Last August, we won an order for the ‘Jeju 12.5 MW Green Hydrogen Demonstration Plant Conceptual Design’, smoothly performing the design of the water electrolysis facility-based public utility, hydrogen storage buffer tank, compression process, and control system, and providing an unrivaled design that encompasses multiple stages. We are securing design competitiveness. Based on this, Hyundai Engineering & Construction plans to actively participate in GW-class large-capacity water electrolysis hydrogen plants as well as clean hydrogen plants using nuclear energy.
A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official said, “Hyundai Engineering & Construction is actively participating in various research projects and projects in the energy field, including clean energy hydrogen, small nuclear power plants, CCUS, and biogas, and is continuously working to secure professional technical personnel for research and development and modernize research facilities. “As it is especially important for new energy to not only develop technology but also implement and improve the developed technology, we will lead the global market in the hydrogen plant field based on the data obtained while carrying out this water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base project.” “We will continue to strengthen our capabilities,” he said.
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