Pyeongtaek City Pursues 'Hydrogen City' Dream, Selected for 'Hydrogen Transportation Complex Base Construction' Project

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Pyeongtaek City was selected on the 14th as a finalist in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Hydrogen Transportation Complex Base Pilot Project' competition.

This marks the second achievement following the city's selection in the 'Hydrogen Production Base Construction Project' competition announced by the Ministry of Industry last year. Pyeongtaek City stated that it has taken another step closer to its goal of realizing "Korea's premier hydrogen city."

The hydrogen transportation complex base is a hydrogen-friendly transportation system that includes hydrogen refueling facilities along with ancillary facilities such as vehicle maintenance, convenience facilities, and parking lots at transportation hubs with high traffic demand, and is designed with future expandability in mind.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a competition for hydrogen transportation complex base construction projects targeting local governments nationwide through October 16.

Six locations—Changwon, Chuncheon, Pyeongtaek, Ansan, Chungju, and Tongyeong—were selected as primary candidates, and after on-site inspections, Pyeongtaek City was selected as the final pilot project site.

Pyeongtaek City is taking the lead in supplying hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen refueling stations in the Seoul metropolitan area, and a hydrogen production base is being constructed near Pyeongtaek Port, a key transportation hub.

This project involves participation by Gyeonggi Province, Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek Port Authority, and Korea Gas Technical Corporation. By 2023, a total of 16 billion won will be invested—10.7 billion won in national and provincial funds, 2.8 billion won in city funds, and 2.5 billion won from the corporation—to construct large-capacity hydrogen refueling stations and ancillary facilities including vehicle maintenance centers.

Using the hydrogen transportation complex base as a hub, transportation vehicles such as cargo trucks that primarily operate at Pyeongtaek Port will transition to hydrogen energy to establish the port as a green port. Furthermore, Pyeongtaek City plans to develop the Pyeongtaek Port area into a hydrogen city by connecting it with future projects such as the automobile cluster development, Hyunduk district development, and port hinterland development projects.