At the press conference for the ‘2024 Green Hydrogen Global Forum’, Governor Oh Young-hoon of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (pictured on the right) and Kim Sang-hyup, Co-Chairman of the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee, answered questions at the Jeju International Convention Center on the afternoon of the 18th. Governor Oh announced, “‘Green hydrogen’ is an alternative that can address issues such as intermittency and output control of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. We plan to expand the number of hydrogen buses to 300, hydrogen cleaning cars to 200, and consider introducing hydrogen trams in the future.”
Governor Oh Young-hoon stated at the press conference held at the Jeju International Convention Center where the ‘2024 Green Hydrogen Global Forum’ is taking place on the afternoon of the 18th that Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water using electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
Jeju Island is rich in renewable energy resources such as solar and wind power, but due to the inability to transmit power inland, there are frequent output controls causing dissatisfaction among power generation companies.
Jeju’s ratio of renewable energy generation is more than twice the national average at 19.6%, compared to the national average of 9.1%. Even on the day of the press conference, the utilization of renewable energy was at 60% at noon, leading to output control. Power generation companies incur losses during output control as they have to idle their facilities.
Jeju is considering producing green hydrogen using surplus renewable energy as a solution. Governor Oh mentioned, “Despite the sun shining, solar power plants cannot operate, and wind turbines cannot run on windy days, which has caused dissatisfaction among power generation companies. Green hydrogen can address the intermittency and output control of renewable energy.”
Since August last year, Jeju has been operating a 3.3MW green hydrogen production facility in Haengwon-ri, capable of producing up to 1.2 tons of hydrogen per day. Jeju is also planning to construct 12.5MW and 30MW green hydrogen production facilities in Bokchon-ri. Jeju plans to expand hydrogen charging stations and transportation methods to activate the hydrogen ecosystem using the produced hydrogen.
Governor Oh mentioned, “We plan to expand the number of hydrogen buses to 300 by 2030, and after introducing one hydrogen cleaning car this year, we aim to increase it to 200. We are also preparing to introduce hydrogen trams to alleviate traffic congestion in Jeju City.”
Jeju is actively utilizing green hydrogen in various sectors of society. The Green Energy City being developed in Hwagok 2-district plans to supply green hydrogen as an energy source to 2,500 units of public housing. Mayor Oh explained, “Moreover, more than 10% of Jeju’s GDP is from tangerine farms, many of which currently use electricity or fossil fuels in vinyl greenhouses. We plan to switch to green hydrogen or renewable energy in the future.” Governor Oh expressed anticipation for products like ‘RE100 Tangerines’ and ‘RE100 Eggs’ to emerge.
Jeju aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 using green hydrogen and renewable energy, 15 years ahead of the government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Jeju’s efforts have garnered attention as a leading example domestically and internationally. Kim Sang-hyup, Co-Chairman of the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee, remarked at the press conference, “The energy transformation taking place in Jeju is showing the future of South Korea. Hydrogen will establish itself as one of the three major energy sources alongside renewable energy and nuclear power.”