Lee Jae-myung: "We Must Turn Crisis into Opportunity Through Hydrogen Energy Transformation"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] The 'Ansan Hydrogen Pilot City,' which is to emerge as a leading hydrogen economy region by utilizing hydrogen as a residential and transportation energy source, broke ground on the 11th with the goal of completion by the end of next year.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ansan Hydrogen Pilot City held at the Hydrogen E-reum charging station, Ansan's first dedicated hydrogen vehicle charging station, located in Choji-dong, Ansan.

Governor Lee said, "The greatest challenge for our society is the recovery of growth. Unlike the previous generation, which had abundant opportunities for high growth, we are now in a low-growth era where opportunities have frozen due to low birth rates and youth issues," and added, "The way to recover growth is to solve inequality and unfairness to maximize the efficiency of resources and opportunities, and to turn global economic and temporal situations from crises into opportunities."

He continued, "The entire world faces contemporary challenges such as decarbonization and climate crisis," and stressed, "If we lead the hydrogen energy transformation through hydrogen cities and others, we can create opportunities from crises and establish a situation where we lead the world."

Earlier, the province secured Ansan as the nation's first hydrogen pilot city through a 2019 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport competition. The core of the project involves the province and Ansan installing hydrogen production facilities using LNG at Ansan Urban Development Co., Ltd. premises to actively utilize them as energy sources for city transportation (hydrogen buses and charging stations), residences (heat and power supply), and industrial complexes (fuel cells and hydrogen forklifts). The total project cost is 40 billion won with completion and commencement of test operations expected by the end of next year.

The event was attended by Minister of Interior and Safety Jeon Hae-cheol, Ansan Mayor Yoon Hwa-seop, National Assembly Members Ko Young-in and Kim Nam-guk, Gyeonggi Province Members Go Han-jun, Cheon Young-mi, Kim Hyun-sam, Won Mi-jeong, and Kang Tae-hyung. Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Governor Lee demonstrated hydrogen vehicle charging at the Hydrogen E-reum station and also test-drove a hydrogen vehicle.

The Hydrogen E-reum charging station is the first charging station by local governments to connect with an underground hydrogen pipeline network, jointly established by the province and Ansan.

Constructed with 4.5 billion won in project costs from July of last year through April of this year, it differs from general charging stations that supply hydrogen via tube trailers (transport vehicles) by enabling continuous hydrogen supply.

Accordingly, annual operating costs can be reduced to the Seoul metropolitan area's lowest supply price (7,800 won/kg, with the Seoul metropolitan area average at 8,800 won/kg), and it is stable as it can be remotely inspected 24 hours a day.