Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction (Seoul, South Korea) announced that it had signed an EPC contract and investment agreement for the Changwon Hydrogen Liquefaction Project, Korea’s first hydrogen liquefaction plant, with Gyeongnam Province, Changwon City, Changwon Industry Promotion Agency (CWIP), BNK Kyongnam Bank, Hana Alternative Asset Management and the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICC).
Under the terms of the contract, which is worth about 120 billion won, Doosan will be performing the EPC work for a hydrogen liquefaction plant and will also be providing operation & maintenance (O&M) services for twenty years thereafter, while Gyeongnam Province and Changwon City will be providing administrative support on the project and be fulfilling their commitment to purchase the liquefied hydrogen. Meanwhile, BNK Kyongnam Bank plans to invest 61 billion won of private funds out of the total investment amount of 95 billion won.
Doosan will be building the plant, which is to have a daily production capacity of 5 tons of liquefied hydrogen, within the grounds of its Changwon plant in Gyeongnam by 2022. The plant will start commercial operation in 2023, and the liquefied hydrogen will be supplied to hydrogen charging stations nationwide.
Hydrogen, a clean energy source, is liquefied at a cryogenic temperature of –2530C, and is easier to store and transport than gaseous hydrogen since its volume is reduced by 800 times. Liquefied hydrogen charging stations also require half the ground area compared to gaseous hydrogen charging stations, making it possible to combine them with petrol stations or LPG charging stations in the city.
“We will make sure that Korea’s first hydrogen liquefaction plant project is a success. By establishing the foundation for liquefied hydrogen production, we aim to contribute to promoting the hydrogen economy infrastructure,” said Doosan Heavy’s COO Yeonin Jung.